Remember that amazing contest where Universal Pictures was giving away the chance to win the world premiere of James Wan and Leigh Whannell's Dead Silence (review) for you and 100 friends in your home town? There was a winner and his name is Bryan Cubin, a 19 year old film student from Boston. Last Thursday Bloody-Disgusting flew down to help the winner celebrate, you can read all about it inside.
DEAD SILENCE PREMIERE
BLOODY DISGUSTING HEADS TO BOSTON
By Loomis (his review here)
This week, Bloody-Disgusting was sent from Los Angeles (current temperature: 90 degrees) to Boston, Massachusetts (current temperature: 9 degrees) to take part in one of the better studio contests to come along in some time. All you had to do was fill out a standard name and address form and you’re entered to win. The prize? Winner hosts a private screening of Dead Silence (which, common for a horror film, had no press screening, so the winner would be one of the first people outside of production to see it), where, along with 100 of his “close friends”, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell would also be in attendance. Also, free magnets.
Bryan Cubin, a 19 year old film student from Boston, was declared the winner (out of over 16,000 entries), and so on March 15, the day before the film was released, he, his friends, and a few horror journalists got to check out the long-awaited film. Cubin said, “Who knew I had 100 friends that were so close? But when word got out that the writer and director behind Saw would be coming to Boston for the premiere of their new movie, people started coming out of the woodwork...” Indeed they did.
From left to right: Writer Leigh Whannell, Billy the Doll, contest winner Bryan Cubin, and director James Wan
But the fun didn’t start (or end) at the screening: Cubin picked 10 (woodwork origins unknown) of the closest of his 100 close friends and got to enjoy a meet and greet with Wan and Whannell (and the horror journalists) at a steakhouse, prior to the screening. You haven’t lived till you’ve broken bread with the guys who showed us what the inside of Cary Elwes’ ankle looks like.
En route to dinner, Bloody-Disgusting got to play tour guide for Wan, who had never been to the city before (this writer grew up there). Wan enjoyed seeing the famous Boston sites like Fenway Park, Newbury St, and a Citgo sign that has no Citgo station under it, confusing poor tourists who are in need of gas for years. During the ride to the theater, Wan revealed he originally wanted to set his next picture there (sadly, Boston lost out to South Carolina). He also revealed himself to be a fan of a certain Massachusetts based teen drama from the WB. The man has courage.
Pacey
The film was a lot of fun, and the response from the crowd was enthusiastic. Many of the lines Donnie Wahlberg (himself a Boston native) had were quotable laughers, and there was a cameo from one of Saw’s co-stars that brought a big cheer from everyone. And if you don’t find a dummy looking at you to be creepy, you sir/madam are dead inside. Or an actual ventriloquist (this writer really hopes that some real life ventriloquist slams the film for making them look bad or whatever, such as Brazil did when Turistas came out).
Universal was also nice enough to treat the “older” folks to another gathering at a favorite Boston bar, with one of the winners’ friends introducing Wan and Whannell to a Boston legend: Sam Adams. Everyone did their best not to mention the Celtics.
All in all it was a short, but fun trip, and it was great to be home again, even if just for a few hours before flying back to sunny LA (just in time to avoid a massive snowstorm, LOL suckers!) Dead Silence is a great thriller that has no modern equal, a refreshing throwback to the older films of Hammer (and Universal themselves). Not everyone will get to see the film with its creators, but they should enjoy it just as much.
Evil Clown (left) and Ryan Kwanten (right) in Universal Pictures’ Dead Silence
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