All week long, ShockTillYouDrop.com's contributing writers are weighing in their favorite horror films of the year. Today, we continue with Spencer Perry's picks. What made the cut? Head inside to find out! You'll also find links to our previous "Best of" lists. As always, feel free to use our comment boards to weigh in with your picks. Just keep it classy.
It's a review-heavy second episode of Shock Wave's sophomore season.
Shock Till You Drop's Ryan Turek and Lawrence Raffel, of FEARnet, weigh in on SyFy's third season of Face Off, the new series Collection Intervention and Scream Factory's Blu-ray presentations for Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch as well as ParaNorman, V/H/S, The Revenant, My Sucky Teen Romance, Hell and Starship Troopers: Invasion.
Also, what's getting them excited about Fantastic Fest's second wave of films? Find out in this episode!
This fall, we're going to see how many family-friendly movies based on horror movie tropes can find an audience. The first effort out of the gate is a stop-motion animated movie from Portland's LAIKA, the studio behind Henry Selick's Coraline.
Helmed by a pair of Brits, Chris Butler--who also wrote the script--and Sam Fell (Flushed Away), ParaNorman may not have a single visionary on par with Selick, but it also doesn't have the baggage of being adapted from a popular book, which means everyone involved is able to pull out the stops with ideas rather than being handcuffed by original source material.
And you can tell that this is one of the reasons why ParaNorman works as well as it does.
Focus Features has released this final web trailer for ParaNorman, the animated film hitting theaters on Friday, August 17. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler, the LAIKA (Coraline) release features the voices of Casey Affleck, Tempestt Bledsoe, Alex Borstein, Jodelle Ferland, John Goodman, Bernard Hill, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Elaine Stritch.
Check out the trailer after the jump!
Shock Till You Drop's managing editor Ryan Turek hit Beverly Hills to catch up with the cast and directors of ParaNorman, the stop-motion animated supernatural film opening in theaters this Friday, August 17th.
Yes, we have already talked to helmers Chris Butler and Sam Fell right here, however, our latest chat allowed us to press them for more details about avoiding the "Tim Burton look" and what makes their film more appealing to the genre crowd - from the small references to even the Italian horror influence.
Also in the hot seat, Leslie Mann (who informed us just before cameras rolled that she showed her kids the "horror movie" Breakdown, with Kurt Russell, recently), Kodi Smit-McPhee (the voice of Norman himself) and Anna Kendrick. If you have any interest in seeing the film (and we suggest you do), this is definitely a recommended set of interviews to check out. Head inside for the video. Click here for our review.
Horror fans looking to induct their kids into the type of teenagers who will rush out at midnight to see the latest gore-filled zombie flick need look no further than Focus Features and LAIKA's upcoming stop-motion animated movie ParaNorman.
It's the second feature-length film from Portland's LAIKA Studios following Henry Selick's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline a few years back, which was nominated for every major film award in the animation category, and it once again shows the clever and amazing things that can be done using stop-motion animation. While it does involve zombies and witches and other scary things, it's still very much a family-friendly film (i.e. no stop-motion innards splaying at the screen in 3D or anything like that).
You may remember the earlier report on our set visit to LAIKA's Portland studios a few months back or read our review. Clearly, we've already spent a lot of time talking to co-directors Chris Butler, who also came up with the idea and wrote the script, and Sam Fell, whose previous movies Flushed Away and The Tale of Despereaux did not show any signs of being made by a horror fan, but we figured it was worth one more interview now that we've seen the movie.
ParaNorman takes place in a small suburban town called Blythe Hollow where young Norman Babcock (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee from The Road) sees and speaks with the ghosts of the dead. When he's visited by his eccentric uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman), Norman is sent on a quest to put a stop to the town's 300-year witch's curse which leads to the walking dead arriving in town, along with his friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), his older sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick) and Neil's brother Mitch (Casey Affleck).
Easily one of our favorite movies of the summer, ParaNorman makes its way into theaters next Friday, August 17th and we have six clips from the film to share with you.
In the film, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
Stay tuned for our interviews with the directors and cast soon!
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Travis Knight, Chris Butler, and Sam Fell discuss making their new stop-motion-animated comedy thriller ParaNorman, made in 3D, at Comic-Con at 10:45am Pacific and we are live blogging the event.
Never-before-seen footage will be shown from the Laika movie that Focus Features is opening nationwide on August 17th. Head inside and settle in, we're dishing you the highlights from this panel.
In the film, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
We're seeing something interesting occurring in the studio system when it comes to the art of the movie poster. They're actually giving a damn. With boutique companies like Mondo, we're seeing very talented artists interpret films ito very cool movie posters.
Focus Features took the intiative to make a series of new one-sheets surrounding its family film zombie romp, ParaNorman. And they're approach is very much like something you might find come out of Mondo. In other words: They're creative. Check 'em out inside.
In the film, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
Some may wonder where the next generation of horror and zombie fan will come from, and how we're going to get our young sons and daughters (or nephews and nieces) in the right head to watch the movies of George Romero or AMC's The Walking Dead. Obviously, it was built up in our DNA for one reason or another, but how do we know that kids under 10 will grow up to carry on our love for all things both dead and undead?
Focus Features and LAIKA, the companies responsible for Henry Selick's stop-motion animated Coraline, may have the answer with their upcoming movie ParaNorman, a family film starring a young protagonist named Norman trying to navigate the world of the supernatural with witches, ghosts and zombies all around him.
A few months back, ComingSoon.net and ShockTillYouDrop had a chance to visit LAIKA's production studios just outside Portland, Oregon and get a taste of their latest project, a horror-inspired comedy based on an original idea by writer/director Chris Butler, who was joined by director Sam Fell (Flushed Away, The Tale of Despereaux).
The new trailer for Laika's ParaNorman has come online at iTunes Movie Trailers and can be watched after the break.
In ParaNorman, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
Opening on August 17, 2012, the movie also features the voices of Casey Affleck, Tempestt Bledsoe, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Bernard Hill, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Tucker Albrizzi, Alex Borstein, Jodelle Ferland and Elaine Stritch.
I look at the recently-released one-sheet for Paranorman, the zombie-filled animated film, and I think, "gee, that's an awful perspective." Don't ever, ever position a young man before an undead crotch.
The new trailer for Laika's ParaNorman has come online and can be watched after the jump.
In the film, a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst of all, moronic grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits.
