Tag: Horror

The Visit Box Office Prediction

There was a time when the name of director M. Night Shyamalan pretty much meant guaranteed box office success, especially in the horror genre. That time was over a decade ago, however, and this Friday’s The Visit will be a true test as to whether his name can still fill seats. It might be somewhat tough.

The good news for distributor Universal Pictures is the budget is reportedly a tiny $5 million and profitability is virtually assured. The creepy tale centers on two kids visiting their possibly crazy grandparents. We’re a ways away from A listers like Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Mark Wahlberg, and Will Smith headlining Shyamalan’s offering. The Visit features an unknown cast and is banking solely on bringing in a horror crowd and hoping Night’s name assists.

It was a long time ago that Signs debuted to $60 million and The Village made $50 million out of the gate. The director’s lowest opening was in 2006 with the reviled Lady in the Water, which made $18 million. The Visit could compete with that number and it certainly has the capacity to over perform. Ultimately, though, I see this marking the director’s worst opening for a still rather stellar start considering the mini budget and probably coming in second to competitor The Perfect Guy. 

The Visit opening weekend prediction: $17 million

For my prediction on The Perfect Guy, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/09/04/the-perfect-guy-box-office-prediction/

For my 90 Minutes in Heaven prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/09/04/90-minutes-in-heaven-box-office-prediction/

Remembering Wes Craven

If a Mount Rushmore were to exist for horror film directors, there is no question that Wes Craven would be on it. Eyes wide open. Certainly not sleeping. It was with great sadness that film lovers learned of his death at age 76 due to a battle with brain cancer. His influence has been inescapable and that is no understatement. When I learned of his death, I was watching the MTV VMA’s (a horror show of a different kind) and the network was incessantly running promos for their TV version of Scream, based on the franchise he directed.

For over 40 years, Mr. Craven’s work was synonymous with being on the cutting edge of the horror genre. 1972’s The Last House on the Left and 1977’s The Hills Have Eyes are hard edged genre classics. 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street brought the slasher flick to new heights. 1996’s Scream both parodied horror movies while being a brilliantly effective one of its own.

These are the obvious titles that will be discussed with his work but allow me to put forth two more that probably won’t be focused on as much. 1988’s The Serpent and the Rainbow is a voodoo infused underrated effort that is definitely worth a look. 2005’s Red Eye is an effective B movie thriller with taut direction and quality performances from Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy.

Craven is also responsible for 1982’s fun monster pic Swamp Thing and directing Meryl Streep to an Oscar nomination in 1999’s drama Music of My Heart. There were missteps too. His 1995 Eddie Murphy vanity project Vampire in Brooklyn immediately comes to mind. The Scream sequels tended to go down in quality as they continued on.

Yet few filmmakers have defined and redefined a particular genre as much as Wes Craven. His works have and will continue to stand the test of time. One only needs to look at how many of his pictures have already been remade or spawned sequels. The original editions of Elm Street and Scream in particular stand as hallmarks of horror that will continue to make audiences lose sleep and laugh about it forever. When it’s impossible to imagine a genre of film without the contribution of one man, that’s a legacy of greatness. Few directors can make that claim. Wes Craven was one of them. Sleep well, Mr. Craven.

Sinister 2 Box Office Prediction

Sinister 2 opens next Friday and hopes to replicate the success of its 2012 predecessor that became a sleeper hit. This time around, expectations may be a little higher but I’m not convinced it’ll even reach the domestic take of its predecessor.

The original Sinister capitalized on solid reviews and opened to a robust $18 million in October 2012 on its way to a $48 million domestic haul. The sequel only finds one returning cast member with James Ransone as a cop. Ethan Hawke, the film’s original star, is nowhere to be found which makes sense if you’ve seen the picture.

While horror enthusiasts mostly regarded Sinister with approval, I’m not so sure fans will rush out to see its sequel. I believe Sinister 2 will have a tough time even matching the $18M mark and an opening in the mid teens seems more likely.

Sinister 2 opening weekend prediction: $16.2 million

For my American Ultra prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/13/american-ultra-box-office-prediction/

For my Hitman: Agent 47 prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/08/13/hitman-agent-47-box-office-prediction/

The Gallows Box Office Prediction

We’ve gotten very used to low budget found footage horror flicks with unknown casts and we have another one coming our way Friday when The Gallows debuts. The Warner Bros title will look to bring in genre fans but its prospects look rather dicey.

Perusing the opening weekends of other similar themed fare, Project Almanac premiered to just $8.3 million in January of this year while As Above/So Below took in $8.6 million last summer. It could reach a bit higher and maybe make around the $9.7 million that Deliver Us from Evil made in July of 2014. That seems within the range of where The Gallows could open at. It is matches around my sub double digits estimate, look for it to fade fast.

The Gallows opening weekend prediction: $8.9 million

For my Minions prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/07/03/minions-box-office-prediction/

For my Self/less prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/07/04/selfless-box-office-prediction/

It Follows Movie Review

David Robert Mitchell’s low budget horror tale It Follows is set in what appears to be a suspended period of time. In the very first scene, we hear a cell phone trying to catch the attention of a young girl in distress. What follows is a parade of landline phones, small screen TVs, actual magazines of pornography and, most horrifically, jean jackets. I suspect this is due to my feeling that its writer/director wishes he could’ve made this picture in the 1980s when John Carpenter and others were making their B movies of the genre. This is clearly where the main influence of It Follows lies and much of this minimalist homage works quite well.

The stars of the pic are not the actors who populate it, but mainly its cinematographer Mike Gioulakis and musical composer Disasterpeace. The movie is filled with remarkable camerawork and shots that will stay with you while its 80s inspired score is a gem.

As for the movie itself, It Follows cleverly reverses a well known cliche in the genre. From the advent of the slasher flick, it’s been the act of sex that often gets our teen characters in the most trouble. While that also holds true here, it’s the same physical act that apparently rids you of the film’s curse.

So just what is “It”? That’s what our main heroine and high schooler Jay (Maika Monroe) must learn after she hooks up with a college dude who then proceeds to inform her that their carnal act will not just involve a walk of shame. In fact, through sex, he’s passed along a curse. The cursed are then proceeded to be followed and terrorized by an entity that can take any form and that only they can see. It’s only, she’s told, through passing it her along herself that she can rid herself of it.

Jay’s predicament soon involves her friends trying to help her out and this includes an eventual love triangle with the cool jean jacket sporting neighbor and her nerdier jean jacket sporting longtime friend. At times, It Follows doesn’t even appear to follow its own rules and the origin of the entity is never explained.

Yet that’s not the point here. The origin doesn’t really need to be explained. The pic is aimed squarely at stoking the nostalgia for the low budget horror titles from the three decades past and that’s where it often succeeds. I’ll confess that I didn’t find it as scary as its reputation has suggested, but there’s certainly some white knuckle moments. The cinematography and music stuck with this viewer the most and its craftsmanship in those areas left me most impressed.

*** (out of four)

Insidious: Chapter 3 Box Office Prediction

Focus Features has had a nice little horror cash cow in the Insidious franchise and the third edition hits theaters Friday. Chapter 3 is a prequel and therefore original stars of its predecessors Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne are nowhere to be found (in fact Byrne is busy this weekend with Spy).

Dermot Mulroney and Stefanie Scott headline with Leigh Whannell making his directorial debut after writing chapters 1 and 2. Insidious: Chapter 2 surprised prognosticators when it landed a $40 million debut in September 2013. It would be a bit of a shocker to see this follow up post that number, but you never know. I believe this will manage a start in the mid to high 20s, settling for second to Melissa McCarthy’s Spy.

Insidious: Chapter 3 opening weekend prediction: $26 million

For my Spy prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/05/30/spy-box-office-prediction/

For my Entourage prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/05/31/entourage-box-office-prediction/

Poltergeist Box Office Prediction

This Friday, yet another remake/reboot of a classic horror entry comes to us as Poltergeist is released. 20th Century Fox is hopeful that the brand name will bring moviegoers in over the long Memorial Day weekend. It’s been 33 years since the Tobe Hooper directed and Steven Spielberg produced original and this reboot stars Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie Dewitt, and Jared Harris.

The high profile May release is a bit surprising and one wonders if this might have been better geared toward an October rollout. Truthfully, this seems to be flying a bit under the radar and is likely to settle for a second place debut at best behind Tomorrowland and maybe behind holdovers Pitch Perfect 2 and Mad Max: Fury Road. Certainly this could over perform, but that possibility is not reflected in my estimate.

Poltergeist opening weekend prediction: $22.5 million (Friday to Sunday prediction), $29.3 million (Friday to Monday prediction)

For my Tomorrowland prediction, click here:

https://toddmthatcher.com/2015/05/15/tomorrowland-box-office-prediction/

The Babadook Movie Review

Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook deals with the heaviness of a widowed mother raising her young son and throws in a horror flick to boot. This low budget Australian import announces a new director in Kent who holds tremendous premise. She knows her way about the genre and how to provide some spine tingling moments with her direction and in the screenplay.

Amelia (Essie Davis) has one 6 year old son Samuel (Noah Wiseman). On the date of his birth, her father was killed driving her to the hospital. To her relatives, neighbors and coworkers, she tries to pretend like everything’s fine. In reality, she can’t even speak her late husband’s name or have anything resembling a conversation about him. That’s not her only family issue. Samuel is a very troubled child whose disruptive behavior gets him kicked out of school. Quite literally, Samuel won’t let his mom have even a moment’s pleasure. He builds weapons to fight imaginary monsters. Yet as we all know in these types of films, maybe these darn kids know a little more about what’s really going on than the adults.

This is when Amelia comes across a graphic and ominous kids book called Mister Babadook, featuring a character who wishes to inflict harm on them. The concept is familiar – once you read about Babadook, you can’t get rid of him. From that moment on, The Babadook follows the playbook of the scores of demonic possession pics before it.

While there’s really nothing truly new going on here, there’s enough positives in Kent’s debut to satisfy horror enthusiasts. For starters, Davis gives a remarkable performance that must consistently shift between concerned and sleep deprived mother and, well, something else. Wiseman certainly acquits himself well and is highly believable as a freaked out youngster. The Babadook is as much about Amelia’s strange journey to confront her undealt with sorrow over her loss than anything else. It just takes a sinister children’s book psycho to deal with it.

*** (out of four)

It Follows Box Office Prediction

After it premiered in May 2014 at the Cannes Film Festival, the low budget indie horror flick It Follows received rave reviews, so much so that it stands at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. With a cast of unknowns and a director helming his first theatrical feature, Follows debuts in approximately 1200 theaters this Friday.

Its critical acclaim gives it the only real shot of breaking out at the box office. While reviews have deemed it terrifying, it is still tough to imagine that happening. The marketing campaign has been subdued and a better bet is the picture finding a cult following once it reaches VOD and cable.

I’ll predict a soft opening that will keep it outside the top five.

It Follows opening weekend prediction: $2.7 million

Annabelle Movie Review

Annabelle was rushed into production after summer 2013’s The Conjuring turned out to be a huge hit and one of the better genre flicks in recent memory. The title character is a wide-eyed, creepy doll who turned up memorably in a supporting role in the aforementioned production. Here she gets her own feature and it feels exactly like a rushed project meant to tide fans over until the legitimate Conjuring sequel. Annabelle was shot on a smaller budget and looks cheaper.

The picture deems it necessary to open with a title card explaining the history of dolls and then footage of The Conjuring to remind us why we just spent our dough. We flash back to 1969 (one year prior to Conjuring’s haunted happenings) where dull Dr. John (Ward Horton) and pregnant wifey Mia (Annabelle – woah – Wallis) gain the attention of our demonic doll after some cult figures (think Manson) invade their home. Moving doesn’t help. Annabelle has no issues making the journey to Pasadena with our non-descript couple. Alfre Woodard turns up as a bookstore owner who helps Mia understand what’s happening with Tony Amendola in the well worn role as a priest trying to assist.

Annabelle tries to generate its scares though sound effects and lingering shots of our doll staring. We keep waiting for those huge eyes to move. It all worked much better in The Conjuring and especially in Rosemary’s Baby, which director John Leonetti pays occasional tribute to. Most distressingly, the tone is far too somber. It’s about a crazy and vengeful kids doll after all. Chucky might’ve helped. There are a couple of mildly hair rising moments, but not near enough. This was designed to provide leftovers to hungry Conjuring fans but it’s unlikely to satisfy.

** (out of four)