Dante’s Inferno Horror Game for XBoX, PS3, PC Caps, HD Trailer, HD Gameplay and Raw Review

Written by Joseph Peterson / When Dante’s Inferno was announced, many viewed it as a ripoff of our beloved PlayStation franchise, God of War. Now that the game has finally been released, it is time to see if it is worthy of a purchase with the God of War III release right around the corner. The game is being published by Electronic Arts and developed by Visceral Games. As the player, you take on the role of Dante, a protagonist who has lost everything. He begins his descent into Hell armed with Death’s scythe and a cross. The game has many connections to “Inferno,” written by poet Dante Alighieri, and is a part of “The Divine Comedy.”

The game begins with this quote, and it caught my attention from the get-go.

In the year 1191, European knights of the Third Crusade captured the city of Acre, about 30 miles from Jerusalem.

Under orders from King Richard, 3000 civilian prisoners were detained. They were held as ransom for a holy relic once taken by Saladin, the Kurdish protector of the Holy Land.

As the hot summer wore on, Saladin dug in and refused to negotiate. Richard grew frustrated, unsure of an attack on Jerusalem.

And the fate of the innocent prisoners was left undecided…

What do the terms Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery mean to you? In Dante’s Inferno, they represent the nine circles of hell that the player must traverse throughout the game. Each circle has its own look and feel to it. Along the way, you will encounter various monsters in their respective circles. Depending on the circle, both the environment and the monsters will change. For example, in Lust, there are many sexual elements present, including constant moaning and women which attack Dante with horrific sexual appendages. Within the Gluttony circle, on the other hand Dante will encounter extremely obese creatures with mouths for hands. These creatures not only attempt to eat Dante, but vomit and defecate on him as well. Read more …

The Wolfman 2010 Poster, Synopsis, HD Trailer and Raw Review

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving

Director: Joe Johnston

Writer(s): Andrew Kevin Walker, David Self

Cinematography: Shelly Johnson

Original Score: Paul Haslinger

Running Time: 102 Mins.

The troubled history of The Wolfman from script-to-screen is as infamous as they get, seeking to reboot their Universal Monster stable the studio hired director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo), then amidst pre-production Romanek fled citing that all-encompassing reason “creative differences”, onboard came Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III, Jumanji) and having shot the film then returned for re-shoots (rarely a good sign) that meant the film was delayed a number of times. All in all not the potent mix that would usually lead to a successful, and more importantly, good film.

And alas, as I feared, all the shunting around of dates and change of director makes for a hugely uneven film, and while The Wolfman is far from a total disaster its problems far outweigh what good can be gleamed from the overall mess, it’s hard to know where to start when breaking down a messy film, for there are good parts within the bad and vice versa, the clashing and uneven tone are largely The Wolfman’s overarching problem with both the original director (and scripts) vision jarring against what Johnston seems intent on doing, especially given his slapdash approach at direction that is hampered by some poor editing.

This two-sided approach filters through every aspect, the score ebbs and flows between Danny Elfman-esque gothicism (original composer, also left mid-shoot), and more subdued atmospheric tracks that feel at odds with what is onscreen, a problem that the cast also seem to be afflicted with. Del Toro was evidently brought in when the film was intended as a character piece, yet is now reduced to looking confused and mumbling, while Blunt is quite simply (and uncharacteristically) bland as the love interest, and the less said about their blossoming romance over skimming stones, the better.

Hopkins and Weaving fare much better, hamming it up enough and showing great gusto amidst the films cheesier moments (and they are many!) suggesting that the studio veered from something more serious and decided to settle for parody of their old classic’s, something which would have worked if the film had the intention to carry it throughout. Between the limp attempts at character development are the action sequences, and while they have a certain spark at times and do teeter on the edge of exciting they seem far too glossy and CGI-ed to convince on any level, with the wolfman lopping off heads and arms in comic Monty Python style, any potential scare factor is lost and the blood and guts a little too low-key to likely please even the gore-hounds.

Much has been made of The Wolfman being Rick Baker’s (American Werewolf in London, Wolf) return to werewolf make-up effects, and while a great deal of time and money has been spent attempting to meld the CGI and practical effects together seamlessly it is a very hit and miss affair, the CGI is fantastic when called for in the man-to-wolf changes yet the make-up itself all too often resembles just that, make up, and there is little question as to which wolfman is scarier, this one or that of  American Werewolf in London’s, something which goes to show that all the money in Hollywood cant buy you an atmospheric, scary, or fundamentally good film !

The Wolfman 2010 HD Trailer

VERDICT

It is a shame that so little of The Wolfman satisfies, or succeeds, as all the elements are there, sometimes to be clearly seen onscreen. In fact, if we had a character piece starring Del Toro and Blunt with a companion piece that harked back to Universal’s classic monster movie, we may well have had the perfect pair up, as it is, combined as one, the result is just a disappointing mess.

Source: movieblaze.wordpress.com

Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief 2010 Poster, Synopsis, Trailer and Raw Review

Starring: Logan Lerman, Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Steve Coogan, Rosario Dawson

Director: Chris Columbus

Writer: Craig Titley, Rick Riordan (Novel)

Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt

Original Score: Christophe Beck

Running Time: 118 Mins.

With a repertoire that includes Bicentennial Man, I Love You Beth Cooper, Rent and Nine Months it’s safe to say that I never really have high hopes upon approaching a new Chris Columbus film, so given that Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the latest attempt at a franchise to fill the soon to be empty Harry Potter void it is unsurprising to find the film is not so much lacking but nigh on redundant, and left me begging the question as to why it was made at all, beyond the obvious reason of cold hard cash!

What is less surprising is that Columbus was also the man responsible for the two first, and by far worst, Harry Potter films, in fact losing Columbus from the franchise is probably the finest thing Warner’s ever did, something which makes the choice to have hired him to make Percy Jackson both financially sound while at once being the worst creative decision ever. Meaning not only are comparisons to the more recent, and largely excellent, Potter films bound be unfavourably drawn but also you are kick starting yet another franchise which the kind of paint by numbers slap-dash approach at direction that plagued Columbus’ Potter efforts. Read more …

Timecrimes (Six Shooter) (2008) - Poster, Synopsis, Review, Photos, Trailer - Upcoming Horror Movie

Also Known As:
Los Cronocrimenes
Time Crimes
Production Status: In Production/Awaiting Release
Genres: Art/Foreign, Drama, Science Fiction/Fantasy and Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr. 28 min.
Release Date: December 12th, 2008 (limited)
MPAA Rating: R for nudity and language.
Distributors:
Magnolia Pictures, Magnet
Production Co.:
KV Entertainment, Fine Productions S.L., Arsenico, Zip Films
Financiers:
Televisio De Catalunya (TVC), Euskal Irrati Telebista (ETB)
Produced in: Spain

SYNOPSIS

A man who travels accidentally back to the past and meets himself there. A naked girl in the midst of the forest. A weird guy with his face covered by a pink bandage. A disquieting mansion on the top of a hill. All of them pieces of an unpredictable jigsaw where terror, drama and suspense will lead to an unthinkable sort of crime. Read more …

Beth’s Top 5 And Bottom 5 Films For 2008!

BETH’S BOTTOM 5

5. THE HAPPENING - The trailer looked amazing! It was written and directed by the great M. Night Shyamalan. It even had Markie Mark!…But even with all these things, this film left me wanting to do what the characters in the movie were doing…kill myself. You would think that since it was an M. Night Syhamalan film it’d have this amazing twist right!? WRONG! Aside from waiting for things to get really interesting (which never happened) all I wanted to do was Knock Mark Whalburg out for being such a douche bag, bad actor and get my money back for wasting my time at the theatre! The best part about going to see this was the popcorn…and the guys jumping off the roof in the film cause that was gory as hell, but that’s it! Read more …

Mike C.’S TOP 5 Best Horror Of 2008

1. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
- It seems we’ve all fallen for this dreamlike Swedish flick. “Let the Right One In” is beautiful, you’ll hear that repeated from critic to critic, even on our site. I remember when Rob insisted that I watch this I really wasn’t in the mood for a quiet, deliberately paced film, but I was almost immediately captivated.

A love story between two 12 year old kids, one of whom has been 12 for a very, very long time, seems creepy in a very taboo way. However, this isn’t a film that’s challenging in a sordid way. I love the way this movie handles the subject of vampirism.

A must-see, and hands down the best film in the current vampire trend, if not the best horror movie of the year, and just one of the best movies of the year period.

2. [REC]
- While watching this Spanish film, which was remade for American audiences as “Quarantine”, was the first time in years I can remember being completely, totally creeped out.

Hair standing on the back of my neck creeped out. By now you know the premise which, yes I agree, sounds completely hackneyed in the year that brought us “Diary of the Dead” and every schmoe with a camcorder, $20 and a box of Krispy Kreme donuts shooting a zombie movie in their backyard.

Well, the hell with those, because this is the one that works, this is the one that’s scary, and in the last act when you think they couldn’t possibly turn this movie around on you again it goes out with one of the scariest final 10 minutes in recent memory.

3. INSIDE
- Let 2008 stand as the year in which the newly emerging and ignoble art of womb snatching got the “home invasion thriller” treatment. “When did the French get so Italian?” was my reaction halfway through this very bloody movie.

A movie that showcases damage to parts of the human anatomy I, as a card carrying member of the male sex, will never have and makes me react viscerally, wincing in agony for what seemed hours?

To that end I say well done, even if I’m not sure it’s exactly scary. While much of the proceedings in this movie are impossibly over the top, including the ending, I certainly will never forget it (and I will never watch it again). See more reviews about this movie here.

4. THE STRANGERS
- Despite any glaring amateurish flaws (like a knife that makes the “schnink” sound when picked up off the carpet) this was a very impressive directorial debut.

When it is in full swing it is a truly scary, jumpy, fun house horror movie. I may not have liked the characters in it (either the victims or the attackers) but it delivered. Marred only by an extremely grim ending where I was hoping for vengeance.

Extra kudos for the inclusion of Joanna Newsome on the soundtrack. Buy it now for christmas!

You can see another review by ROB G.’S in this post ROB G.’S TOP 10 PICKS of Best & Worst Horror Movies of 2008!

5. BABY BLUES
- Never heard of it? Came out on DVD in August. Find it. Writer/director Lars E. Jacobson delivered a powerfully taboo breaking horror movie about a mother on the verge of a total mental breakdown and the unfortunate young children in her way. I was shocked, appalled, unnerved. If there’s a movie I saw this year that truly horrified me, this is it. If you have kids, please, you’re probably best to avoid this one altogether, it will be tough. The title left me with the impression that I might be getting ready to watch an inappropriately campy movie on the subject of a mother murdering her children.

There’s nothing funny about that, or the incidents in recent years when it’s happened. But this is not a campy movie, it’s dead serious, and while it may seem like borderline (or from your perspective obvious) exploitation filmmaking, the subject is handled with extreme care.

MIKE C.’S HONORABLE MENTION

TRUE BLOOD
- I love this show. Absolutely love it. Obviously I can’t name it as one of my top favorite movies of the year but I need to call it out. Alan Ball has taken some very silly books and made a fine supernatural television series out of them. The show is sexy, engaging, and just raunchy enough to be made for HBO. I kind of also dig the idea that when it first aired “Twilight” fans might have tuned in out of curiosity. I love the idea that Alan Ball’s TV show about vampires maybe have introduced some 13 year old tween to the concept of erotic asphyxiation. That tickles my soul a little. “Mommy, that vampire is definitely NOT sparkling!” But seriously, it’s a damn fine show. Call me up for Team Sookie.

ROB G.’S TOP 10 PICKS of Best & Worst Horror Movies of 2008!

1 - LET THE RIGHT ONE IN - I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. But what I got turned out to be not only one of the most unique vampire tales I’d ever experienced, but easily one of the best movies (of any genre) that I’ve seen in the last decade. The beauty of this film lines within the relationship between Oskar & Eli, two 12 year old kids falling in love with each other, only… one happens to be a vampire. And while that sounds like the makings for a horror film, the true horror comes from the human monsters of the movie - the bullies that torment Oskar. I’ve seen this movie about 6 times already and every single time, I catch something new. I’ve heard that a lot of the backstory for all the characters is detailed in the original novel (by John Ajvide Lindqvist) but the movie is so well crafted that all the details are there for you to discover on repeat viewings. The more I see this, the more I fall in love with it. And I’m sure you will too. Seek this one out!

2 - TRICK ‘R TREAT - Everything you’ve read on-line is true. Writer/Director Michael Dougherty has crafted the best Halloween themed movie since John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN.
And while it was very difficult to decide between this and LET THE RIGHT ONE IN for my top spot this year, I can already sense that TRICK ‘R TREAT will inevitably end up being one of my all time favorite horror movies. The film takes multiple perspectives of Halloween (from child to teenager to adult to senior) and interconnects those separate perspectives into one grand Halloween tale. Think of it as a horror version of PULP FICTION.
I’d imagine that most of you like me make sure that John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN is playing on one of the TV’s somewhere in your house on October 31st. But it’s time to retire that yearly tradition, because starting next year, TRICK ‘R TREAT will most definitely be in my DVD player from every Halloween here on out!

3 - [REC] - Let’s face it. The “found footage” gimmick wore itself out almost immediately. So if you’re going to try it, it’d better be a great original premise intended to set itself apart from the countless other recent attempts at “cinema verite”. Well, all it took was seeing the teaser trailer to the Spanish flick [REC] to realize that filmmakers Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza were going to deliver something totally unique and special. I own a multi-regional player (something I strongly recommend investing in to all of you fine readers out there), got myself a copy of the import DVD and was treated to easily one of the scariest “zombie” films I’d ever seen! And quite frankly, this is one of the best movies made using the “cinema verite” approach. Forget QUARANTINE. I haven’t seen it yet but the slight tweak to the ending I’ve heard about (something I found terrifying in the original) has already turned me off to it. Plus, this version probably won’t be as effective to you if you watch the practically shot-for-shot American remake. As much as I love Dexter’s little sister, films like this work for me so much better when there’s not a bunch of familiar faces in the leads. Hence, the foreign version gets the upper hand. Seek it out. It’s worth it.

4 - CLOVERFIELD - Another one I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was blown away by. Look - your ever-loyal ICONS staff got to see this one in Times Square in Manhattan, and quite frankly, it was unsettling and scary! Especially walking out into the very streets we’d seen destroyed on the big screen moments earlier. Multiple kudos to director Matt Reeves and writer Drew Goddard for figuring out a way to let this story tell itself using the limitation of the duration of one Mini-DV tape. It’s seriously brilliant & impressive filmmaking. Plus, the creature rocked! It reminded me of the 1st time I saw the original ALIEN as a kid. Anytime you’d get a glimpse of the monster, you couldn’t help but think “What exactly am I looking at?!” I rewatched this recently on DVD just to make sure I still felt as strongly about it, and sure enough, I love it just as much as when I first saw it in January of this year. (You can find more about this movie on FullHalloween Section: Horror Movies and of course, there are more horror movies!

5 - THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN - Not a perfect film, but easily one of the best movies to bare the name Clive Barker on it in over a decade! Who wouldn’t get excited at the prospect of a BOOKS OF BLOOD adaptation?! Let alone one coming from a stylish director such as Ryuhei Kitamura. Writer Jeff Buhler did a kick-ass job expanding upon Barker’s original story, and Kitamura gave us some fantastic gore & visual set pieces.
While the last 20 minutes gets a little iffy, Bradley Cooper still delivers a great little performance, as does the ever-scary Vinnie Jones as the menacing Mahogany. Add a Ted Raimi cameo and you’ve got my bonus kudos.
And thankfully, they kept the original stories ending in tact for the movie version. This one got a raw deal from Lionsgate when it obviously deserved so much better. Thankfully, you guys can discover it on DVD in February 2009! So be waiting for this oh yeah!

6 - THE WIZARD OF GORE - As soon as I heard the first notes of the beautiful song “The Old Kind Of Summer” by The Black Heart Procession playing over the “bloody” opening of THE WIZARD OF GORE, I knew I was watching something special. Add onto that the stellar casting of Crispin Glover (whom if you’ve seen his “performance shows” makes the perfect Montag The Magnificant), as well as Kip Pardue, Bijou Phillips, Brad Dourif, a welcome appearance by Joshua Miller and the Suicide Girls (?!) and you’ve got one of the most bizarre films of the year that if anything, you should check out just for curiosity’s sake.
The ever-reliable Jeffrey Combs also gives us an unrecognizable performance in this flick.
Multiple kudos to director Jeremy Kasten for envisioning Herschell Gordon Lewis through a punk-rock, noir Los Angeles. I’ll be keeping a close eye on all of his films from here on out.

7 - STUCK - Oh Uncle Stu! Not exactly a horror film, but definitely a film loosely based on a true story that just happens to be horrifying! Stuart Gordon gives us this deliciously twisted black comedy. Poor Stephen Rea is having the worst day of his life. His job interview didn’t go well, he get’s kicked out of his apartment and can’t even comfortably sleep on the street without a cop telling him to move. Eventually his bad day comes crashing into him (literally) in the form of Mena Suvari. Rea’s character becomes embedded in Suvari’s windshield, and although her character is a nurse that cares for people on a daily basis, she (for whatever reason) leaves him stuck to the front of the car to die in her garage. What follows is a series of gasp worthy incidences that truly made you feel sorry for this poor S.O.B. Be glad your day isn’t this bad! Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed as much as I did during this movie, but I found it darkly hysterical and the ending was utterly satisfying. Way to go Uncle Stu!

8 - THE STRANGERS - Believe it or not, I actually just rented and watched this one for the first time last night! I’d heard mixed reviews all over the place. Some of my friends hated it, some liked it. My cousin and I share similar tastes in movies and assured me I would love this one. While I didn’t exactly love it (nor do I think it’s a perfect film), I did think it was a solid and genuinely scary debut effort from writer/director Bryan Bertino.
One of my biggest fears (next to drowning) is home invasion. So to have a movie really turn up the tension on that basic concept, and then add creepy, spooky masked stalkers to the mix, just really got to me.
I’m still totally bummed out by the downbeat grim ending, but hell, that’s what makes for an effective horror movie, so for me this one totally worked. I personally like a little vengeance in my horror flicks, so hopefully that is the direction they will take the planned sequel!

9 - TIMECRIMES - Another one I just watched for the first time this week. TIMECRIMES is a Spanish movie by Nacho Vigalondo. And while it’s not exactly a “horror” film, this is one that stuck with me for a long time after the credits stopped. There’s a good tension filled build up in the first 20 minutes as our main character Hector is being stalked by a mysterious man wearing bandages across his face and chasing him with a scissor, but then… the idea of time travel is introduced. To go any further into the plot would just give away all the fun. But the great thing about the movie is, once you get further and further into the time travel angle, it starts to become somewhat frustrating for the viewer, just because it’s hard to wrap your head around the continuity. BUT, rest assured that all of the details will fit by the film’s conclusion and you’ll be left with plenty of satisfying afterthoughts. Hence, it becomes obvious that Vigalondo put a lot of advance thought and effort into exactly how this story should unfold and it totally works! It’s impressive storytelling, and easily one of this year’s best!

10 - INSIDE - At one point during INSIDE’s many gory sequences, Mike C. turned to me and said, “Robg… When did the French get so Italian?” And that’s the main reason I love this movie as much as I do. Now, to be fair, it disturbed me enough that I haven’t had the nerve to watch it a 2nd time, but any horror film that effects me that deeply definitely earns itself a slot on my “best of the year” list. It’s no surprise that lead Beatrice Dalle has a tendency to physically attack meter maids and is in fact kinda crazy in real life, because she’s fantastic in the film. It has it’s over the top moments (sheesh, how much blood did they use in this flick?!), but that makes it one you definitely have to see to believe.
Oh and the ending! I’ve seen a LOT of horror films in my time, but the ending to this one is genuinely one of the most shocking you’re bound to witness.