If you're going to update a classic Universal monster, this is the way to do it. The trailer for Leigh Whannell's The Invisible Man dropped earlier today, and the film is going to be one that hits close to home for many people. It's certainly feels ripped from the headlines, as Elisabeth Moss plays an abused wife who suspects her husband faked his death, and now torments her in a way no one else can see. To say this plays into the #MeToo movement would be stating the obvious, but it looks like Whannell has crafted a legitimately intense and brutal film filled with visceral and psychological horror. Check it out for yourselves: I dig how grounded the whole thing looks and feels. Universal attempted to craft a Dark Universe using its classic monsters a couple of years ago, but misfired horribly with The Mummy. Whannell wanted to do something a little more realistic, and it looks like he pulled it off. The Invisible Man also stars The Haunting of Hill House's O...

Sadly there have been two more mass shootings in the United States, tragedies that occur with unfortunate frequency of late. And every time something horrible like this happens, people look for a scapegoat. That scapegoat is quite often entertainment. Wal-Mart, in the wake of these shootings, has pulled video games from store shelves and, just this weekend, Universal Pictures cancelled it's Sept. 27 release of The Hunt, a politically charged thriller about American elitists who hunt other Americans for sport. I've no doubt The Hunt will eventually see the light of day, but its subject matter is probably too politically charged given the recent tragedies, and the right-wing response to them. It's not good optics to release such a film at the moment. But pulling video games off of shelves... really, man? Really!?! And before it was video games it was comic books. And before comic books it was role-playing games. And before that it was violent cartoons. The list of sca...

Hot off its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, Universal Pictures announces its bringing Nicholas Pesce's horror flick Piercing home next month. The film, which stars Christopher Abbott and Mia Wasikowska, has received high acclaim amongst us Interweb journalists and horror fans, so I'm figuring this is one to check out.

Sure, it's Christmas Day, and the time is supposed to be spent basking in the joy of family and friends. But . . . the trailer for Jordan Peele's new horror movie Us dropped this morning . . . and it's a thing to be shared! You see, this looks like it's going to be a downright interesting -- and terrifying -- motion picture, one that begs to be seen in a crowded theatre with other horror fans. And, given it's written and directed by the man who brought us Get Out, there's gonna be a social message too.

The times they are a changing, as Warner Bros and Universal Studios look to shorten the length of time a film plays in theatres, in favour of a quicker jump to digital and the home market.  When I was a wee lad, it wasn't unusual for a movie to stick around our local cinema for weeks, even months. I remember Raiders of the Lost Ark playing in town for 30 to 40 weeks - that's seven or eight months! The last movie I remember getting such a long theatrical run was Titanic, which played for almost a year.

With movies under his belt like " Equilibrium ", " American Psycho ", " Public Enemies ", and the Christopher Nolan 's " Batman " trilogy, Christian Bale may just be at the peak of his career right now.  But soon, he's going to be reaching a different sort of peak. Bale has been signed by Working Title and Universal to star in " Everest "- about a 1996 expedition that went horribly wrong.  Three groups of climbers got trapped on the mountain during a blizzard, resulting in the deaths of eight members.  This event was originally detailed in " Into Thin Air " by Jon Krakauer , and depicted in a TV movie based on the book. The "Everest" script uses information gained through books and interviews done by survivors of the tragedy. Baltasar Kormakur (" The Deep " and " Contraband ") is set to direct, and Emmet/Furla Films is also involved in the production. But it seems that Bale- ju...

We've talked at length about the return of everyone's favourite sci-fi antihero. Now we can let you know when the latest Riddick arrives on the big screen. Sept. 6, 2013. In theatres and Imax. The fall release date is likely because of the movie's hard-R rating. And we're cool with that. Hard-R = awesome in our books, especially when it has to do with the further adventures of one Richard B. Riddick. What' it all about? Betrayed by his own kind and left for dead on a desolate planet, Riddick fights for survival against alien predators and becomes more powerful and dangerous than ever before. Soon bounty hunters from throughout the galaxy descend on Riddick only to find themselves pawns in his greater scheme for revenge. With his enemies right where he wants them, Riddick unleashes a vicious attack of vengeance before returning to his home planet of Furya to save it from destruction. Back for another round is Vin Diesel (duh) and Karl Urban. Joining t...

Further proof that you can't keep a potentially terrible movie down, Universal Pictures announced today that it's moving ahead with its based-on-a-board-game flick Ouija after killing the project late last year. The film was going to be directed by McG on a seriously retarded budget of $100 million. The fact Universal would even consider such a grossly inflated budget for a project like this speaks to everything that's wrong with Hollywood. Obviously more sane heads prevailed, the budget was slashed by 95 per cent, and McG is out.  Pitched as an adventure/horror movie about a group of twenty-somethings who violate the rules of the Ouija board an unleash a terrible evil, this abortion is produced by Platinum Dunes and Hasbro. No word yet on a director or when the flick goes into production. None of this does anything to restore my faith in the stupidest movie idea this side of Battleshit . . . I mean Battleship.

And Universal Studios will finance and distribute Brandon Bestenheider & Allen Bey's thriller, with The Strangers director Bryan Bertino and Adrienne Biddle of Unbroken Films producing along with Marc Platt. Yes, this story has to do with a major Hollywood studio, but we in The Basement want to draw your attention to it because it's an original, scary sounding idea for a movie. T he premise revolves around mysterious creatures called Grims , who, for one night a year, globally torment humans, forcing them to protect themselves from the attacks.  One word: scopin'! The creepy as hell promo trailer that Berstenheider and Bey cooked up is credited with sealing the deal. Having watched it, I understand why. Hopefully the suits at Universal, which in all honesty is where the American horror film was born during the 1930, understand the potential and don't bugger this up in some way.

What starts off as a beautifully mounted remake of the Universal monster classic quickly de-evolves into just another Hollywood horror movie, lack of actual scares included. There is a wild and crazy fun side to this movie and a serious, dull, lifeless side as well. The two halves duke it out for much of the too-long running time before the film limps to an uninspired conclusion. In fact, the whole problem with the film is that it doesn't know whether it wants to be old-fashioned or cutting edge. I'd have preferred old-fashioned. A Bad review from The Basement for me.