Author: Megan Williams

With London’s Frightfest horror film festival starting at the end of the month, the event’s schedule has started to be unveiled, including information on its closing film ‘Fall’. 

‘Fall’ sees best friends Becky (Grace Fulton – Shazam) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner – Halloween 2018) climb to the top of a 2,000 ft tall radio tower and become stranded after parts of its flimsy ladder break apart. 

Frightfest always know what’s best for a closing film and this looks to be no exception, but this may not be a film for anyone with a fear of heights. I’m always a fan of the one location horror, where characters are stuck in a location and have to figure out a solution, and the trailer does a fantastic job at displaying this film’s execution. Despite the flimsy opening, ‘Fall’ looks extremely tense as the two friends try to find a way down the tower. 

However, due to its limited setting and concept, ‘Fall’ also looks like it will focus on character development as well as their backstories. If that is the case, then ‘Fall’ has potential to be more than just a film with a gimmicky plot.

I wasn’t expecting much from ‘Fall’ but, after seeing the terrifying trailer, I can say that I look forward to seeing it. While it is now out in America, it will have its UK premiere at London Frightfest in a couple of weeks time.

Even though Disney are adding ‘Pinocchio’ to their never-ending list of live action remakes, the adaptation I’m looking forward to is Guillermo Del Toro’s. Produced by Netflix and The Jim Henson Company, most famous for The Muppets, the film has faced a lot of production and development issues and was originally slated to release in 2013/2014. Despite this, I have faith in Del Toro’s work, especially after ‘The Shape of Water’ and even ‘Pacific Rim’, so it’s a relief to finally see a trailer.

‘Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio’ follows a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto who creates a wooden boy that comes to life and explores the world around him.

Despite the numerous adaptations, this one feels fresh given the addition of the reasoning behind the boy’s creation. It looks heart-warming and beautiful too, due to the designs of the characters and scenery. However, it also feels special because of the method used to bring this to life. Stop motion animation isn’t an artform that’s used a lot nowadays which is a shame. While it is time consuming, it gives its film or show a unique look that can’t be replicated by CGI. So, it’s also wonderful to see this adaptation belong to the stop motion genre. 

Overall, move over Disney, because this is the adaptation of ‘Pinocchio’ that I’m interested in. It looks heart-warming and vibrant, and I will always support a stop motion film because it’s a beautiful artform that’s rarely used. Plus, the voice cast looks fantastic, with voices of Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) involved to name a few. Despite the delays the film received, this looks fantastic.

After ‘Rise of Skywalker’ and the majority of the Disney+ shows, it’s safe to say that I have lost interest in ‘Star Wars’. While ‘The Mandolarian’ and ‘Star Wars: Visions’ were unique and interesting, the former fell into the same trap as the other shows and recent films, which is diverting back to familiar characters and stories. The world of Star Wars is huge and has lots of opportunities to tell varying stories from different characters and species, yet it doesn’t which is a shame. However, I hold hope that the new show ‘Andor’ might be this beacon of hope that ‘Star Wars’ still has something new to offer.

‘Andor’ is the next chapter in the ‘Star Wars’ saga and is another Disney+ series that will be released at the end of September this year.

Usually, if a trailer hardly shows anything concerning its plot, I find this exciting; a trailer shouldn’t include main plot details, just a small summary. However, this trailer is an unfortunate exception purely because I have no idea if it’s going to return to stories that don’t need to be revisited. But the willingness to make this look cinematic is very exciting and it does look fantastic. And, while ‘Star Wars’ have focused on rebellions before, ‘Andor’ has the potential to provide a different angle on the idea.

Despite being uninterested in ‘Star Wars’ now, ‘Andor’ has piqued my interest a little; it looks fantastic and the concept around it seems interesting. However, it’ll need to work hard to differentiate itself from previous ‘Star Wars’ properties of a similar idea. But, just like ‘The Mandolorain’ and ‘Star Wars: Visions’, I’m happy to give this show a chance.

‘Halloween Ends’ sees the original franchise survivors go up against Michael Myers in the final entry of the 2018 Halloween trilogy. 

It’s an understatement to say that I disliked ‘Halloween Kills’; it had an interesting concept but didn’t know how to execute it well. Plus, the messaging of mob mentality didn’t sit right with me considering events of the last two years. So, I have been far from excited to see ‘Halloween Ends’. But, just like the trailer for the previous entry, this trailer had got me very intrigued by its set up which is essentially a continuation of the ideas introduced in ‘Halloween Kills’. 

It even captures fans’ nostalgia by starting with a recreation of the opening scene from the original horror film and features flashbacks of the other characters from previous entries that will make a return here. 

While I was left feeling disappointed by ‘Halloween Kills’, I feel ashamed to say that the first trailer for ‘Halloween Ends’ has made me interested. Nostalgia pulling is something that has been used a lot with recent franchises and this is no exception and, once again, it has personally worked. I just hope the end to the trilogy is better than its predecessor.

Day Shift: Trailer Talk

When I was a teenager, vampire films were a subgenre I happily dived into: ‘30 Days of Night’, ‘The Lost Boys’, ‘Dracula’ and ‘Daybreakers’ were films that I loved and still do. However, it’s been a while since I’ve seen a decent vampire film and, after seeing the trailer for ‘Day Shift’, I hope this will change that. 

‘Day Shift’ stars Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and Dave Franco as vampire hunters who kill the bloodsucking creatures for money in an underground business organization.

Not only was this an unexpected trailer, but the leading cast is unexpected too. However, the trio work perfectly alongside each other, delivering a humorous performance reminiscent of ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’. A premise like this shouldn’t be serious and it appears not to. Not only that but it doesn’t soften the violence or gore; this looks to be a gory film with some great effects! Plus, the premise is unique; like the zombie genre, the vampire genre was becoming stale fast in the mid 2000’s so it’s refreshing to see a plot like this. 

Taking humour and gore inspirations from ‘Evil Dead’ as well as ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, ‘Day Shift’ looks like it will be a lot of fun. It’s a unique premise in a genre that was (pun intended) burning up and it looks funny too. Plus, the unexpected leads look like they’re going to work perfectly alongside each other. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this when it comes to Netflix in August.