New Season of "Eli Roth's History of Horror Uncut" kicks off with Megan Fox and Bill Hader

‘ELI ROTH’S HISTORY OF HORROR UNCUT’ PODCAST RETURNS FOR NEW SEASON WITH EPISODES FEATURING MEGAN FOX AND BILL HADER

 

LISTEN TO NEW EPISODES ON APPLE PODCASTS, SPOTIFY AND OTHER PODCAST PLATFORMS NOW

 

September 28, 2020 — New York, NY — Shudder, AMC Networks’ premium streaming service for horror, thriller and the supernatural, today announced a second season of Eli Roth’s History of Horror: Uncut, premiering September 28. An extended audio companion to the television series AMC Visionaries: Eli Roth’s History of Horror whose new season premieres on AMC on October 10, the Uncut podcast offers listeners hours of never-before-heard, candid conversations with horror luminaries featured in the show.  The first two episodes showcase in-depth discussions with Megan Fox, whose 2009 film Jennifer’s Body was met with hostility upon release but has since been lauded as modern classic, and Bill Hader, who offers new perspective on his role as the adult Richie Tozier in It Chapter Two. Both episodes are available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other platforms. New episodes will be released every Monday, and the full Uncut season will be available on Shudder later this year. 

 

“The reaction to Season One was beyond my wildest expectations,” said Eli Roth. “We became a top 5 podcast as soon as we debuted, and it shows the overwhelming excitement from the fans to hear these incredible stories directly from the artists. On the TV show, we have to condense everyone into one hour but on the podcast, we can really take our time, hear the full conversation and learn so much more. The stories they tell are fascinating and insightful and really make you see their work through a different lens. I’m so thankful to AMC and Shudder for letting us go much bigger with Season 2. These stories are for all time, and will be enjoyed by generations of fans for years to come”

 

Future episodes will feature actors Nancy Allen (Dressed to Kill) and Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), filmmakers Ari Aster (Hereditary), Roger Corman (The Masque of the Red Death), Mary Harron (American Psycho), Don Mancini (creator of the Child’s Play franchise), Barbara Muschietti (producer of the It films), Greg Nicotero (showrunner of Creepshow), André Øvredal (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark), Eli Roth (Hostel), actor/director/FX master Tom Savini (Friday the 13th), Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys) and Rob Zombie (3 from Hell).

 

Eli Roth's History of Horror Uncut is hosted by Eli Roth featuring interviews conducted by Kurt Sayenga. The podcast is executive produced by Roth, Sayenga, Steven Michaels, Jodi Flynn, Joseph Freed and Allison Berkley. Eli Roth’s History of Horror is produced by The Content Group and Marwar Junction Productions. 

 

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ABOUT SHUDDER

AMC Networks’ Shudder is a premium streaming video service, super-serving members with the best selection in genre entertainment, covering horror, thrillers and the supernatural. Shudder’s expanding library of film, TV series, and originals is available on most streaming devices in the US, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. For a 7-day, risk-free trial, visit ​www.shudder.com​.

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Haunt (Review)

Writer/ Directors:  Scott Beck, Bryan Woods
Cast: Katie Stevens, Will Brittain, Lauyrn Alisa McClain, Andrew Caldwell, Shazi Reja
Year: 2019
Min: 92

Harper (Katie Stevens) is being harassed, via text messages, by her abusive, piece of shit boyfriend. He hits her and has even left her with a black-eye. Try as she may to hide it with make-up, her best friend Bailey (Lauyrn Alisa McClain) notices it. Realizing what is going she invites Harper to join her for a Halloween party. After leaving the club that it was held at, they and three of their friends look for an extreme haunt to continue the holidays festivities. They find one, but it ends up being one where they must for their lives, as they are picked off one by one by the haunt's psychotic, masked workers.

Haunt is a 2019 slasher movie, produced by Eli Roth, that has quickly been garnering positive reviews and word of mouth. And, I am pleased to report, that for once, the hype is well worth it. The writer/ director team of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, whom together co-wrote and served as executive producers on A Quiet Place, have crafted a tight and tense movie.

Through their co-written script and co-directing, the duo give the film a nice setup and manage to keep your eyes glued to the screen for all of its 92 minutes running time. They  also really take full advantage of its setting. The movie has a really nice and slick look to it, with a nice use of colors, shadows, and lighting. This is most effectively represented by the excellent set design, which is some of my favorite of the year. Beck and Woods know how to build tension as the movie progresses, each moment and scare ratcheting it up more and more. The movie's climax is great and had me gripping my seat in pure white-knuckle intensity. It leads into one hell of an ending, that I absolutely loved!

The whole cast is quite good breathing life into the characters and keeping them likable. They don't come off as annoying or as assholes, like so many a other movies. I am looking at you Hell Fest (and countless of other slasher movies, to be quite honest) and your awful, shitty characters! But, special mentioning must be given to the lovely Katie Stevens as Harper. She is tough, resourceful, easy to like and cheer and an excellent final girl.

A great heroine needs a great villain or villains, of course. And, while the killers aren't very defined they are intimidating. In a way, not giving them a clear reason for their evil makes them scarier and keeps them mysterious. Their masks are simple but effectively creepy. Once they reveal their actual faces, we see that they are even more horrific thanks to some good and realistic makeup FX. FX crew also helps brings life to the kills, which are violent and have some real impact cause we don't want these characters to die. A couple of gory highlights include mayhem like face ripping, an exploding head, sledgehammer bludgeoning, head crushing, and more!

 

I am not bullshiting by saying that I love Haunt! As someone who is very, very picky with slasher movies, I can honestly recommend this one wholeheartedly. It is without question one of the best movies of that kind of the last few years. It also easily tramples over similarly plotted or styled movies like the aforementioned Hell Fest and Escape Room. The flick is violent and intense with a simple but well done story that will keep you involved from beginning to its fucking awesome ending. Add some really creepy villains and a great final girl, and you have a bloody good winner. As an added bonus it takes place on Halloween, so now you have a new, destined be classic to add to your yearly October viewings. Haunt begins streaming on Shudder, this Thursday, October 24, 2019.

4 out of 4

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The Green Inferno

Title: The Green Inferno
Director: Eli Roth
Writers: Guillermo Amoedo and Eli Roth
Cast: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Aaron Burns, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Magda Apanowitz, Ignacia Allamand
Year: 2013 (released 2015)
Min: 100

Justine (Lorenza Izzo) a beautiful college freshman becomes interested in human rights, and joins a social activism group led by Alejandro (Ariel Levy). That she thinks he's good looking also weighs in on her decision to join them. She ultimately accompanies them on their trip to the Amazon rain-forest to stop a company from bulldozing down the trees and taking the land from natives. It doesn't take her, and eventually the rest of the group, long to figure out that Alejandro is all bullshit and a douchebag. But, things also turn much worse as their plane crashes as it tries to leave the rain-forest. The survivors are soon taken prisoner by a very hungry, deadly, and savage cannibal tribe.

Though made two years ago, Eli Roth's bloody and loving tribute to Ruggero Deodato's brutal and controversial classick Cannibal Holocaust (loyal horror fans in the know will note that this movie's title is that of the film with a film, found footage flick title of that movie) is finally being released via the folks at Blumhouse. This movie is very different from that company's usual teen horror, though, and though flawed ranks as one of the year's very best horror films.

Those who hate Eli Roth's style of film making won't be won over with this one. It does feature his usual college level humor, which plays oddly against the more serious aspects of the movie. In the beginning the humor works quite well. The stuff between Justine and her pretty friend, Kaycee (Sky Ferreira) works best because it feels real and natural. There is an interesting and, almost, complete tonal shift, once the tribe takes them. The camera, formally shooting in a typical manner and style, suddenly turns jarring and disorienting. It works excellently and this coming from someone who hates it when the camera moves this way. It adds a sense of neo-reality, urgency, and ups the tension to the proceedings. Strangely, Roth decides to add more infantile humor at this point, to break up the tension in the film. This bears varying degrees of success. The pooping scene makes sense to a certain degree of, "well that would happen in real life", but is slightly marred by silly and gross sounds and character reactions. Other moments play out better, still others just leave you saying "what the fuck was Roth thinking?!"

Complementing the realism of the film is the actual real setting and the use of real Peruvian tribes people as the cannibals. I also like that film, like many of the its' Italian counterparts starts off in New York City. It has deeper messages in the form bullshit artists who wish to make a name for themselves exploiting a cause and the deforestation of the Amazons adds a level of profundity beyond it's exploitative nature (not unlike the dichotomy of Deodato's aforementioned classic). One aspect of the film that I did like more than the Italian stuff is that there is no real violence against animals here. In fact, there is an undercurrent of love for animals best summed up by the black leopard shown in the film. In an opposite vein, I which he would've taken the influence of having a better score. I mean this one here ain't bad, but it is generic. Unlike the beautiful score for Cannibal Holocaust. 

The acting is quite good, though. The supporting cast is strong, in particular Levy who just so good at being a despicable asshole in this film. But, it really is Izzo's showcase here. She is the heart of the film, and we are firmly on her side throughout the movie, thank God. I don't think this movie would've worked quite as well, if we weren't. She is excellent and is rapidly making a name for herself in the horror genre. She also happens to be stunningly beautiful. Those eyes! Good God, I maybe in love!

The movie doesn't feature anywhere near the amount of nudity it's Italian counterparts do. Those hoping that such beautiful women as Kirby Bliss Blanton or Magda Apanowicz will bear their flesh will be disappointed. Even the natives don't show naughty bits. But, there is one case of male frontal nudity, and the gorgeous Izzo gets nude as well. Izzo's scene is actually pretty tense and comes closest to matching the sexual violence that some of the nastier Italian films love to showcase. Speaking of nasty KNB's gore is phenomenal. This is the bloodiest studio horror film since the Evil Dead remake. As such, it features dismemberment, implaing, and more, including some wonderfully graphic cannibalism.

In all, I really enjoyed The Green Inferno. It is well worth the wait and is a great mix of fun, intensity, and shock. A sometimes nasty and wonderfully gruesome film, it does have some uneven bits, including an ending that feels tacked on to get us ready for the green lit sequel. But, I still highly recommend it. Not to Roth's haters, but to those who know what to expect from his work and want a bloody ride back to cannibal country. And, let's be honest as people haven't made this kind of movie in ages, it's a long overdue trip for many of us. Thank the gore-gods it's as good as it is here.

**** out of ****

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