Movies
News Bites: Michael Myers at Horror Nights, Diamond Dead Musical, more!
I always hate dedicated a news story to something that is only taking place in one city, especially when 99% of our readers can’t make it, so I’m lumping a chunk of those pieces of news into this evening’s “News Bites”. While this will be updated through the night (if more small bits come in), beyond the break you can get details on “Halloween: The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers”, a special new maze taking over this year’s Halloween Horror Night at the Universal Studios in Hollywood, see how Las Vegas attendees can score a signed prop from Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, and also read all about a special New York presentation of Diamond Dead, which was originally planned to be a rock-horror film directed by George A. Romero. Watch for more goods as they come in.
WIN A SIGNED HALLOWEEN 2 SKULL
Rob Zombie and Sheri Moon will be making an appearance at Planet Hollywood in Times Square tomorrow at 12:45pm to donate Michael Myers’ knife from HALLOWEEN II.
They are running a twitter contest and will be giving away a ROB ZOMBIE signed skull (picture attached) straight from the set of HALLOWEEN II.
In order to win – contestants must tweet a photo of themselves at the ceremony at Planet Hollywood with Rob and Sheri in the background. The photo must be tweeted @H2_TheMovie and received by midnight tomorrow.
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Time: 12:45pm EST
Location: Planet Hollywood in New York City
HALLOWEEN: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF MICHAEL MYERS – A MAZE!
Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Halloween Horror Nights,” beginning a 16-night run on October 2, will present an all-new “live” attraction based on the classic horror/slasher film franchise, “Halloween” and the film series’ murderous antagonist, Michael Myers, per an agreement reached between the theme park and Compass International Pictures.
“Halloween: The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers,” an interactive horror walk-through experience, will be the first attraction based upon the “Halloween” films to be created by a U.S. theme park. A replica of Michel Myers’ house will be constructed for the attraction and his most memorable atrocities will be brought to life.
Larry Kurzweil, President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Studios Hollywood, said: “The addition of the classic `Halloween’ film franchise to this year’s Halloween Horror Nights event underscores our intent to break new creative ground with outstanding horror icons and raise the intensity level of our Halloween experience. This year’s Halloween Horror Nights will be the most impactful live horror event ever to be presented in a theme park environment.”
Malek Akkad, President of Trancas International Films, and producer of the new “Halloween II”, due in theaters August 28th, said: “We are thrilled to bring the classic Halloween icon, Michael Myers, to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights this year. It will be a great treat for fans to experience “Halloween” in the haunted house setting that Universal does best.”
The masked figure of Michael Myers is well-known to horror audiences as the archetypical slasher, a maniacal and relentless killer. By the time of Halloween Horror Night’s 2009 opening, the infamous character will have appeared in nine films, beginning with John Carpenter’s 1978 “Halloween,” and continuing through the new “Halloween II,” written and directed by Rob Zombie. The film has additionally been a central figure in novels, in the video gaming world and in comic books.
Also new to this year’s “Halloween Horror Nights” is a “live” maze experience based on the “Saw” film franchise, per an agreement among Universal Studios Theme Parks, Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures. Characters, themes and live action recreations of the infamous “traps” from the entire “Saw” horror franchise will be featured in the experience, in multiple “scare zones” and aboard the park’s signature “Terror Tram.”
Halloweeen Horror Nights will also feature the “Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute” per an agreement between the theme park and Twentieth Century Fox’s Licensing & Merchandising Division. The tribute will bring the mayhem of the classic horror spoof to life on-screen and on-stage with live performers singing and dancing in the celebrated, outrageous “Rocky Horror” costumes.
This year’s “Halloween Horror Nights” event will feature four all-new mazes as well as terrifying new “Scare Zones”.
DIAMOND DEAD THE MUSICAL
The Landless Theatre Company of Washington, DC, joins the 2009 NYC Fringe with ‘Diamond Dead’, the zombie rock musical by Emmy winning composer Richard Hartley (`Rocky Horror,’ `Alice In Wonderland’). The play is based on a screenplay by Brian Cooper (‘Nymph’), and was the winner of the 2008 Capital Fringe Festival Best Musical Pick of The Fringe.
“Since we started development in 2004 to this date, horror fans still eagerly await developments in production of a George A. Romero directed DIAMOND DEAD film,” said book writer and performer Andrew Lloyd Baughman. “But our little rock show lives on at New York Fringe! It has been an incredible journey to develop this unique and bizarre piece, and the best part has been meeting audiences full of kindred freaks everywhere we go who share our love for the music and the ridiculousness of it all.”
The internationally based creative team includes Hartley, Cooper, Baughman and Andrew Gaty, the Los Angeles-based film producer of ‘Diamond Dead’.
“Ordinarily we would have never looked at Washington as an outlet for this experiment,” said Gaty in 2004. “But when Landless Theatre approached us with their ideas, we all thought `Why not?` It has the potential to be as original and unique and different as ‘Rocky Horror’ was in its day.”
`Diamond Dead’ centers around a lame-ass garage band that died in a “tragic subwoofer accident,” only to be resurrected as cannibal zombies through a special arrangement with Death. Preying on the public’s thirst for the unusual and unknown, the band uses their “undead” status to achieve rock superstardom (and a few meals along the way).
Equal parts `Spinal Tap’ concert and haunted house, Diamond Dead invokes a deadpan homage to zombie pop culture and politics driven by a hard rock score. The audience becomes part of every show, feeding into the mania.
The original Landless production was presented at DCAC in 2004, where it developed a local cult following. Surrounded by controversy involving depiction of a “pot smoking Jesus,” `Diamond Dead’ also spurred an online petition to ban the play by UK Christian Activist Scott Morrison, and an online debate between Morrison and Baughman.
In 2008, the production was voted Best Musical Pick of the Capital Fringe Festival. The zombies will return to the 2009 Capital Fringe for a quick snack before the NYC Fringe premiere in August.
The New York International Fringe Festival – FringeNYC
A production of The Present Company
August 14th – 30th
Tickets: $15. For tickets visit HYPERLINK “http://www.FringeNYC.org” www.FringeNYC.org
Visit www.landlesstheatrecompany.org for more information.
About Landless Theatre Company: The Landless Theatre Company is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to infusing vitality into the local arts by producing exciting and accessible alternative theatre to generate new and diverse audiences. More information and production history online at www.l HYPERLINK “http://www.landlesstheatre.org/” andlesstheatrecompany.org
Movies
‘Corpus’ Review: A Seductive Slow-Burn Erotic Thriller With a Supernatural Twist [Fantasia 2026]
Director Corrin Evans‘ sweaty, immersive voyage back to the ’90s deftly bypasses nostalgic pastiche thanks to strong form and vision in his feature debut, Corpus. Evocative of 1998’s High Art in indie attitude, style, and themes, Corpus so effectively pulls you into its brooding vision of identity and intimacy that its supernatural elements become almost an afterthought in this slow-simmering psychological thriller.
Evans, who co-writes with Lily Cowles, opens Corpus with a discomforting attention grabber that sees a young woman, Wren (Yellowjackets‘ Nuha Jes Izman), put in an increasingly awkward, then disturbing position at a professional photo shoot. The scene abruptly cuts right at the cusp of sexual violence, setting in motion the overarching mystery that protagonist Sayo (Jeff Wahlberg) slowly discovers he’s been pulled into.
Corpus introduces Sayo as an aspiring photographer with an eye for composition, but one who scrapes by in New York City dealing drugs at nightclubs. His quiet routine gets upended with the return of Vince Marlowe (Brodie Townsend), a star on the rise and Sayo’s longtime crush. Vince convinces Sayo and their mutual pal Ross (Michael Vlamis) to accompany him to an exclusive party hosted by his affluent photographer friend Billie (Lily Cowles). Instead of a bustling gathering filled with prominent guests, though, Sayo is surprised to arrive at an isolated estate deep in the woods, with only Billie, Billie’s strange friend Cata (Ching Valdes-Aran), and Wren to greet them.
It’s the type of bait-and-switch that should set off warnings within Sayo, but his unresolved feelings for Vince override his sense of survival as the strange behaviors grow more sinister over the weekend.
Sayo’s loneliness becomes the epicenter for Evans’ sensual examination of modern relationships, intimacy, and gender norms. As such, Corpus favors slow simmering, sensual unease as Evans dials into the push and pull among its central relationships. More acutely, Sayo’s deep confusion takes center stage as he tries to navigate his perplexing dynamic with the object of his desire. Vince runs hot and cold. Flirtations and advances are sometimes encouraged, sometimes rejected. Not helping is the bizarre dynamic between Billie and her mysterious “friend” Cata. Or Wren’s new feral persona, a far cry from her timid opener.
Fixating so thoroughly on the intricacies of Sayo and Vince’s will-they-won’t-they adds meaty thematic depth, a haunting depiction of loneliness leaving someone vulnerable to different forms of manipulation. It’s here where Evans slowly, ever so slowly, layers in hints of horror. Sensuality and relationship drama take center stage, and while Evans’ strong grasp of form makes for a compelling watch that holds you firmly in its grip, its middle section is prone to pacing lulls.
So much so that by the time Corpus is ready to reveal its sinister horror surprise, it feels almost too little too late. The disorienting nature of desire and intimacy gives way to a full-throttle home invasion that lays all intentions bare and finally unmasks its horror, but it comes in a frenzied rush that can’t wait to conclude Sayo’s erstwhile romantic pursuits.
The restrained horror does frustrate in the wake of the film’s potent cold open, raising the expectation for a more energetic journey that never fully arrives, but what it lacks in supernatural scares it makes up for in style and atmosphere. Wahlberg makes for a complicated, sympathetic lead as the vulnerable romantic struggling to find his place in the world, let alone whether he’s destined for love or the friendship zone. The ’90s setting doesn’t just remove the pesky problem of smartphones when trouble arises; it lets Evans play with form and incorporate photography techniques that raise visual interest. Even the music adds rich texture. It all makes for a stylish debut with a strong voice at the helm, but it never pushes far enough into erotic thriller or horror territory to fully unsettle.
Corpus made its premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.
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