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Just in time for the Halloween season, Warner Bros. has released the movie Rest Stop on DVD. The DVD arrived in stores on October 17th. The film is about the terrifying struggle a young woman endures after encouraging her boyfriend to pull over so she can go to the bathroom while they are on a road trip. Nicole goes in the bathroom to relieve herself and when she comes out Jess is nowhere to be found. Where is Jess? On top of that, there is this crazed man driving a yellow truck who keeps trying to run her down. It’s the same yellow truck that tried to run Jess and Nicole off the road before they stopped at the rest stop.

To say that Nicole encounters some strange people is an understatement. And just where is Jess? She thinks she has found him when she hitches a ride with a strange family but it turns out Jess is not there, and the family is seriously wacked.

Rest Stop is kind of a slow starter, but it’s an okay flick to catch on DVD for the Halloween season.

Synopsis
Synopsis:
Jess is at the wheel. Nicole rides shotgun. And at the end of the road stretching before them is glittering, glamorous Hollywood. They’re on a road trip, all right…straight to hell. When the runaway lovers pause at an abandoned rest stop, Jess disappears. And someone else appears - someone with his own demented sense of fun. With drills. Staple guns. Box cutters. All the tearing, grinding, ripping tools you need to hew wood. Or metal. Or people. Especially young, pretty people just like Nicole. Raw fear rules in Rest Stop, the first film from Raw Feed, the newest brand name in horror, sci-fi and thrillers. Director John Shiban, writer and executive producer of The X-Files and Supernatural, keeps the terrors and twists coming, each out-shocking the last. Stop. Stay awhile. But don’t expect to rest.
Special Features:
Alternate endings - 2 Alternate Endings
Theatrical Trailer - Rest Stop

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TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING is in theaters THIS FRIDAY October 6th

SHOWTIMES and TICKETS

Enter your zipcode for showtimes and tickets here: http://www.texaschainsawmovie.com/

PRINT OUT YOUR 10/4 PRE-RELEASE SCREENING PASS FOR YOU AND A FRIEND, THEN CHECK OUT XBOX’s 2006 “GEARS OF WAR” VIDEO GAME AFTER THE SCREENING:

http://www.texaschainsawmovie.com/gearsofwar/

CLIPS

Please allow a moment for the following clips to download:

Closing the Plant: Leatherface chopping meat and the worker tells him to leave.
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Dinner Pledge: Sheriff telling family that the Hewitt family will not abandon the town.
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Where Are You Taking Us: Sheriff brings 3 friends back to the Hewitt house.
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What is That?: 3 friends are in car and Leatherface comes out of the Hewitt house.
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SYNOPSIS

The original 1974 film, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, shocked and stunned audiences with its bone-chilling realism. The horrifying story, drawn from a series of true events, is considered by many to be one of the greatest thrillers of all time and a landmark of terror that has influenced countless films in its wake. Iconic in popular culture, its menacing evil character, Leatherface, will forever be one of the most recognizable screen villains.

With 2003’s remake of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, starring Jessica Biel, the filmmakers at Platinum Dunes brought new life and vigor to the horror movie genre, while also honoring its predecessor. Now the company continues on that path with a startling prequel, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING, which details the beginnings of the Hewitt clan and exposes their psychotic idea of family fun.

It’s 1969. The conflict in Viet Nam has exploded to immeasurable proportions, and 18-year-old Dean Hill¹s (Taylor Handley) number is up. Dean’s brother Eric (Matthew Bomer), who has already seen his share of combat, plans to take Dean to enlist in his beloved Marine Corps in hopes of keeping an eye on him rather than letting him take his chances at the local induction center.

But Dean’s plans do not coincide with his older brother¹s. Instead, he plans to confront Eric about dodging the draft after the boys and their respective girlfriends, Bailey (Diora Baird) and Chrissie (Jordana Brewster) head across Texas for a final fling of serious fun.

Soon after their journey begins, the spirited foursome are spooked by a menacing pair of bikers, Holden (Lee Tergesen) and his girlfriend, Alex (Cyia Batten). When Alex chases the group¹s jeep, propelling them into a serious accident, Chrissie is thrown from the vehicle. As Alex attempts to rob the injured trio, Sheriff Hoyt (R. Lee Ermey) arrives on the scene and turns the tables on their would-be assassin. While Chrissie hides in the nearby brush, she watches as the sheriff kills Alex in cold blood and then inexplicably taunts her friends before ordering them into the back of the patrol car.

Unbeknownst to Chrissie, Hoyt is headed back to the Hewitt family home where Thomas who is being groomed to become the terrifying monster known as Leatherface (Andrew Bryniarski) and the rest of the Hewitt clan await. In an effort to save her friends, she attempts to convince Holden to help her, but he is on a one-man rampage to avenge his girlfriend’s death. As Chrissie witnesses the horrors inflicted by the Hewitt family upon the people she loves, she realizes she is their only hope of survival.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and written by Sheldon Turner. The producers are Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes (2005’s The Amityville Horror). It will be released in theaters by New Line Cinema on October 6th, 2006.

Cry Wolf is a movie about several teens who attend prestigious Westlake Academy. They have a rather difficult to understand game they play to pass time during the evenings. At night time they sneak to the chapel to play “Cry Wolf.” They sit in a circle and identify who in the circle bears the wolf marking on their chest. It’s basically a game about lying and trying to figure out who is the wolf, it’s a bit strange but these rich kids love this game. At the beginning of the film a young woman is murdered in the woods. To spice up their evening game a pretty redhead named Dodger and the new kid Owen and the rest of the gang decide to make their game a bit more intriguing by getting the whole school involved in their fun. They send out an email message making the student body believe that there is a serial killer on the loose. It’s all done in good fun, until people start dying in real life.

Cry Wolfis a decent teen horror film. It’s not quite as clear as teen horror films Joy Ride and Jeepers CreeperCry Wolf is more of a murder mystery and viewers will find themselves guessing who the murderer is until the very end.

Stars of the film include Julian Morris, Lindy Booth, Jared Padalecki, and Jon Bon Jovi.

The horror/thriller Skeleton Key is now available on DVD. Kate Hudson stars in this film as a 25 year old woman named Caroline. Caroline is a simple woman, no husband, no children and she is dealing with the recent death of her father which occured one year prior. At the start of the film she is working at a nursing home where she feels the staff just isn’t concerned enough abou the patients well being. She browses the want ads with her girlfriend (portrayed by Joy Bryant Get Rich or Die Tryin’, and takes a job at a big spooky old house in the Lousiana Bayous. The house mistress tells Caroline soon after landing the job that there is a skeleton key which opens all of the rooms in the home. Naturally, Caroline decides to try out the key and attempts to open up the attic. What she does unearth is a mystical world of strange hapenings. The Louisiana based film deals with something called Hoodoo, that’s no typo there. Hoodoo is a form of Voodoo. It’s a pretty interesting film that does have some slow moments.

I’m sure many will argue about my opinion of the acting skills of one Kate Hudson. Then again, maybe it wasn’t Kate Hudson that irked me, maybe it was the way her character was written. On many occasions it seemed like Caroline went looking for trouble.

The DVD includes a plethora of bonus features and is available in both widescreen and full screen format.

Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Commentary by director Iain Softley
Deleted scenes with commentary by Softley
The production featurettes “Behind the Locked Door - Making The Skeleton Key” and “Casting The Skeleton Key”
The short featurettes “Exploring Voodoo/Hoodoo” (on the history of hoodoo and the religion of voodoo) and “Blues in the Bayou” (the music),” Plantation Life” (the history of plantations), and “A House Called Felicity” (locations),
A ghost story by Kate Hudson
A love spell from Gena Rowlands
John Hurt reading a disturbing excerpt from the book “Voices from Slavery”
Recipes

Stephen King’s Riding The Bullet hits DVD on April 19th. The movie premiered on the USA network in January. The film is based on King’s short story of the same name. The film stars Jonathan Jackson as Alan Parker. If he looks familiar he is the young actor who won several awards for his portrayal as the first Lucky Spencer on General Hospital. The year is 1969 when the film begins and it is his birthday. His main girl Jessica is giving him the axe he thinks. He is in the bath tub when he hears voices and sees the faces on the wall talking to him, telling him to “cut.” When the door bursts open and his friends come in yelling surprise Alan accidently cuts his wrist. In the hospital on the mend, Jessica pays Alan a visit. She then gives him a pair of tickets to see John Lennon in concert. Alan is very distracted by life. Sometimes it’s like he isn’t all there. Jessica feels the distance and it is straining their relationship. What a coincidence, it also happens to be Halloween. Excited about going to see John Lennon and the Plastic Ono band. Everything seems to be coming around when the phone rings. Alan gets a phone call. It is his mother’s next door neighbor. She has bad news. His mother has had a stroke. Alan has to put the concert on hold and he makes plans to hitchhike to see his mother in the hospital. On the road, things get really freaky. David Arquette stars as a freaky version of the Grim Reaper and he puts Alan in a situation where he is forced to make a serious decision.

This film is really neat because Alan has these little flashbacks and future visions and sees things in his head. Then the “other” Alan talks to him and appears from time to time. This is a really amazing and entertaining film. The music is great too. Keep your ears peeled for classics like “Incense and Peppermint” by the Strawberry Alarm Clock.

Stephen King, the man himself is impressed with the film adaptation of Riding the Bullet. He says of the film, ” The best of the independent films made from my work since Stand By Me.”

Riding the Bullet is based on Stephen Kings bestselling e-book novella. The film was directed by Mark Garris who has collaborated King on previous film adaptations of his written works.

DVD Specs
16:9 Widescreen
5.1 Dolby Digital
Director, Cast and Crew Commentary
Shooting The Bullet Minifeaturette Gallery
The Art of Riding The Bullet
Storyboard to film Comparison
Trailer
English and Spanish Subtitle

movie official website

The movie Saw has gained a whole new following in it’s DVD release. The film starring Carey Elwes (The Princess Bride), and Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) is now available on DVD.

One really good thing about Lion’s Gate is they bring films to viewers that are often off the beaten path. Off the beaten path is a good way to describe the movie Saw. The box art has a picture of a circular saw. So you might think the film is about a crazed murderer. Well, the film is about a crazed murderer, it’s just not what you think.

You have to give it to the film makers for coming up with something different. The bad guy in the movie Saw doesn’t go out and just hack up his victims. He puts his victims in compromising situations where they either end up killing themselves in the process or they are met with his punishment if they fail to complete the given task–which is often gruesome.

Carey Elwes stars as a doctor. He seems to have it all, nice career, beautiful daughter, lovely wife. Everything isn’t as it seems. He is having marital problems. At the start of the film, the good doctor finds himself locked in a room with a young college age kid named Adam. Danny Glover stars in the film as a detective trying to solve these bizarre crimes. When he is taken off the case, he becomes obsessed with finding the killer who he let slip through his hands.

Saw is a movie with many twists and turns. Some elements of the film are easy to guess early on in the film, but other plot twists will have you second guessing yourself. This is a film that you have to watch until the very last minute. This thriller which is along the lines of Silence of the Lambs is sure to spawn a sequel and a cult following.

Visit the official website for the movie Saw http://sawdvd.com/

It’s about time The Lost Boys was given the special edition treatment. As a fan of 80’s movies and movies in general, I am kind of getting tired of purchasing a movie on DVD only to have a new “special edition” come along not much later down the road. The Lost Boys 2 DVD special edition set is one of those rare sets that is worth the extra re-purchase if you already bought the original. Not only is the film remastered, this time you have commentary from the director, Joel Schumaker, and a new featurette with the two Coreys’ (Corey Haim and Corey Feldman), along with the deleted scenes. It’s always cool to see the scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.

When watching The Lost Boys in 2004, some of the scenes seem quite camp and unscary at times, but this is one of the coolest vampire movies ever, most in part to the young cast which includes Jason Patrick, Keifer Sutherland, Corey Haim, Jamie Gertz, and Corey Feldman. Don’t miss Alex Winter (of Bill and Ted Fame) as the vampire Marco. This was a horror film with a good storyline, “Whose the head vampire?” This is a film that is still entertaining to watch. A+ for movie, A for extras. It would have been nice to get Keifer Sutherland to give a little commentary but what were the odds of that?

Not a good account of Dahmers life

Don’t watch this movie if you expect to learn anything about Jeffrey Dahmer. You would learn more on an A&E special. This film offers a glimpse at Dahmers life at best. This fictional account of the life of Jeffrey Dahmer is slow and boring. On top of that, so much of the horror of his crimes is left out of the movie. On top of that the movie is confusing. The film begins sometimes in the 90’s I assume. It doesn’t give a date so you don’t know what year it is. Then the film cuts back and forth to some point in time when Jeffrey us younger. I couldn’t tell if it was the 70’s or the 80’s. Young Jeffrey didn’t look much different that older Jeffrey. 1/3rd of the film focuses on Jeffrey’s relationship with one of his potential victims that gets away. The film ends on a sour note. No resolution. This film is terrible. The only good thing about the movie is the actor who played Jeffrey Dahmer. He played a real good role, but the director could have given the viewers a better frame of reference. Once again, if you think this is a film that will teach you about the life and crimes of Dahmer, this is not the film for you.