James Wan
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‘Furious 7’ delivers your over-the-top action fix
Big action, gravity-defying car shenanigans, and unstoppable macho energy make for a ridiculously fun ride. Yes, some sloppy editing bogs down director James Wan’s more-is-more finale, but that’s only in comparison to the other set pieces, which are damn near flawless. Fans of the action genre will want to catch this one early and often. More
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‘Furious 7’ releases its first trailer
The Fast and Furious franchise, which began in 2001 with The Fast and the Furious, has been a curious anomaly in film history, as the series has grown in popularity and critical acclaim throughout its run. The last film saw notable changes being made, as stars Gal Gadot and Sung Kang stepped away from the […] More
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James Wan set to direct ‘The Conjuring 2’ for 2016 release
If anyone in Hollywood says that they are retiring or done with a certain something, take it with a grain of salt. Last year after the release of Insidious Chapter 2, James Wan said that he was done with horror movies, but we now know that isn’t happening, thankfully. Deadline reports that Wan will return […] More
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Trailer and Poster for the ‘Saw’ 10th Anniversary Re-release
Say what you will about the sequels that followed or the many torture-themed films that came out after, but James Wan’s original Saw is still a modern horror classic. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the film that started the most financially successful horror franchise of all time and to celebrate Lionsgate is re-releasing […] More
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Trailer: ‘The Conjuring’ spinoff ‘Annabelle’
Last year’s The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, was a massive success, both critically and commercially. Of course it’s no surprise that after grossing over $300 million worldwide that Warner Brothers has quickly turned The Conjuring into a franchise with a spin-off film, Annabelle, directed by Conjuring’s cinematographer John R. Leonetti and James Wan producing. With the new official trailer for […] More
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Deliver Us From Marketing – The Misuse of ‘True’ Stories in Cinema
The dishonest suggestion of truth behind an uninspired movie is an easy means to attract a bigger audience. It is a double-edged sword, however, when said audience discovers that the majority of what they have seen is inaccurate and, on occasion, almost slanderous. More
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15 Best Horror Films of 2013 (Top 5)
Special Mention: Post Tenebras Lux Written and directed by Carlos Reygadas Mexico, 2012 Mexican director Carlos Reygadas (Japón, Silent Light) seems inches away from producing his masterpiece. His latest, Post Tenebras Lux (the title is a Latin phrase meaning “after darkness, light”), opens with two of the most unforgettable, ominous images in recent memory. The first is a […] More
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31 Days of Horror: Jump Scares, Twists & A Genre in Decline
There’s a wonderfully maddening moment early on in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining where Danny Torrance is perusing the corridors of the Overlook hotel on his tricycle. He swings round corners, the camera obsessively following him in a locked in third person perspective angle. The skin crawling score by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind swells up […] More
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‘Insidious: Chapter 2’ is a dreadful, tension-free mess and an unnecessary continuation
Insidious: Chapter 2 joins the less than stellar ranks of films like The Descent: Part 2 in being an immediate continuation of a horror film that, though ending with a looming threat, did not call for a sequel. After a prologue set in 1986, the film kicks off on the night its predecessor ended, with Rose Byrne’s Renai Lambert questioned by police over the supernatural events that led to the murder by strangulation of psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye). More
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Sunday Shorts: ‘Saw’, directed by James Wan
Today’s film is the 2003 short Saw. The film is written by Leigh Whannell, who also stars, and is directed by James Wan. Wan rose to prominence as director of the 2004 feature Saw, which follows the same concept as this short film, and whose success went on to create a new horror franchise. Wan […] More
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‘The Conjuring’ and Fantasia Film Fest 2013 – Sordid Cinema Podcast #62
Long live James Wan: the undisputed box-office king of mainstream horror (Insidious, Saw, Dead Silence) is only accelerating, with the critical and commercial success of The Conjuring presaging his insidious sequel later this year. The film also graced the early days of the Fantasia Film Festival, where it was joined by reams of other like-minded genre outings from all […] More
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‘The Conjuring’ a relentlessly scary, exhausting haunted-house experience
A door slowly creaks open, nudged from its closed position by a slight gust of wind. The wooden structure of an old farmhouse settles at inopportune moments, expanding and retracting minutely with unexpected knocks echoing through its halls. A shadow crosses through the moonlight that shines onto a bedroom floor, nestling itself just underneath the mattress, waiting to leap out and terrorize the bed’s resident, a helpless child. More