Movies
Someone Must Die in Hideo Nakata’s ‘Chatroom’
From the director of Ringu and The Ring Two comes Chatroom, Hideo Nakata’s English-language psychological thriller about teenagers who encourage each other’s destructive behavior. The film will have its premiere at next month’s Cannes festival with hopes of bringing the film to theaters in 2011 (maybe even 2010?). Check out the trailer and long synopsis below.
“When jaded teens Jim, Eva, Emily and Mo meet William online, they’re seduced by his charisma. But William isn’t what he seems. He’s calculating and manipulative and doesn’t have time for people in the real world. Jim is vulnerable and he has no idea how dangerous his new friendship with William will be. When Jim confesses he’s on anti-depressants, William knows he’s found a victim. He vows to help Jim off his drugs, and the rest of the group fall in line. What begins as friendly advice to help Jim becomes twisted and Eva and Mo realise the deadly game William’s playing, but the wheels are in motion. Jim is set on a path of self- destruction, and is going to do the unthinkable. As Eva, Emily and Mo try to save Jim, William begins a terrifying game of cat and mouse chasing them across the internet, shutting down their systems, and cutting them off from his victim. Fantasy meets reality when William and Jim are face to face in rush hour on the underground. Without the faceless security of the online world, everything becomes real. It’s now a race against time to save Jim, but the clock is ticking… and we fear someone must die.”
Dark Sky Films and Fathom Events are keeping their annual Texas Chain Saw Day tradition alive with the return of Tobe Hooper‘s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre 4K restoration in theaters for one-night-only on August 18, and this week they’ve announced that the screenings will include a sneak peek at a brand new version of the horror classic.
For starters, tickets are now on sale for Texas Chain Saw Day, as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre returns to theatres nationwide on August 18 from Dark Sky Films and Fathom Entertainment, the leading specialty distributor of content to theatrical partners worldwide
In addition to experiencing Tobe Hooper’s groundbreaking 1974 classic on the big screen, audiences will also enjoy an exclusive behind-the-scenes featurette exploring the painstaking art of rotoscoping, the century-old animation technique.
The featurette includes an exclusive preview of newly created rotoscoped footage from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, giving fans a first look at the striking visual style while highlighting the craftsmanship behind the process, created entirely by artists without the use of AI.
Animation Director & Art Director Paul Beck (A Scanner Darkly, Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood) is the man behind the hand-animated version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
The press release previews, “every frame will be illustrated by hand using the labor-intensive animation technique in which artists meticulously trace live-action footage frame by frame. Employing no artificial intelligence, the production relies exclusively on the craftsmanship and decades of experience of veteran artists to preserve the performances, atmosphere, and intensity of the original film while presenting audiences with a striking new visual experience.”
Beck said in a statement, “The original Texas Chain Saw Massacre is a masterpiece that changed cinema forever. Our goal is to honor its legacy by reimagining it through the timeless art of hand-drawn rotoscoping, giving audiences a completely new way to experience a film they thought they already knew.”
Get your first look at the new visual experience only in theaters on August 18.
Expect the animated Chain Saw reimagining at some point in 2027.
In the 1974 classic from director Tobe Hooper, five youths traveling through rural Texas fall prey to a butcher in a mask made of human skin and his cannibalistic family.
Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Allen Danziger, William Vail, Teri McMinn, Gunnar Hansen, Edwin Neal, and Jim Siedow star in the classic horror movie.
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