Health Benefits of Watching Horror Movies You’ve Never Known Before

Do you like watching movies with frightening scenes? If so, you’re healthier than other people who like to spend their time watching popular TV shows. Do you want to know why? Well, it may surprise you, but horror movies bring some health benefits. Scroll down below and discover the health benefits of watching horror movies.

Horror Movies Can Burn Calories

Nope, a list of horror movies isn’t an alternative to regular workout in a gym. However, one 90-minute movie with scary scenes can burn 100-200 calories. It is equal to a small chocolate bar.

There are no secrets. Watching horror movies, both heart and breathing rates increase. Try to enable the pulse-measuring feature on a smart-watch or fitness band and track your heart rate changes in live time while watching a horror movie.

Also, they stimulate brain activity. In total, one terrifying movie can help lose some calories.

However, if you’re a student, it will be better to visit a gym to keep your body fit and strong. In case you have a tight schedule, it can be a good idea to pay someone to do your homework as it is very important to be healthy.

Improve Brain Activity

 

It’s a well-known fact that horror films improve brain activity. Several scientific studies found that frightening scenes in horror movies help increase the adrenaline level and release neurotransmitters in the brain.

Simple words, watching horror films, people not only look at their monitors. Most people analyze everything that happens on screens, try to find a possible solution, and think about what they would do in the same situation.

Therefore, if you feel extremely tired and squeezed, feel free to watch a horror film to refresh your mind and get back to work with new power. Otherwise, if you’re an undergraduate, you can find a company that allows you to place an essay order online and get an A+ assignment without any fuss.

Relieve Stress and Anxiety

There are a lot of different types of horror movies. However, most of them can be divided into two categories. The first one tries to scare people by showing paranormal activity. The second category implies films that show real-life situations when people become victims of maniacs.

Such movies help refresh the mind, make a self-journey, and discover that overdue payments are not real troubles that people can face.

In such a way, if you’re a student who doesn’t have enough time to pass an assignment until the past due, it’s not the end of your life. Feel free to explore the most popular academic writing companies and choose the best one to get a top-grade assignment within one day.

Help Release Helpful Hormones

It’s a well-known fact that frightening scenes in movies are a real adrenaline pump. However, most people don’t know that when scary scenes are over, the brain calms down and releases serotonin and dopamine. Those hormones help keep your body healthy and maintain a high level of brain activity.

It’s easy to check. Surf the Web and pick a popular scary film that you haven’t seen before. In case you’re an undergraduate who doesn’t have even a few free hours to watch a movie, get help with college papers online. Feel free to ask your friends, “Do you know someone who can write my essay online for cheap?” if you don’t know reliable essay writing platforms.

Decrease Depression

This health benefit is the result of another advantage that horror movies bring. When you watch a scary film with your partner, blood-curdling scenes drive you to spoon and snuggle with each other.

It helps promote your overall health and reduce depression. If you’re a single student who doesn’t want to watch horror movies alone, delegate your homework and hang out to meet your love.

In case you don’t know someone who can help you with your homework, open a browser and surf the following question, “Who can do my statistics homework?” on the Internet. Examine all essay writing companies from the search query and place an order at the best one.

Top Horror Movies

‘Paranormal Activity’ is the #1 in the list of hair-raising movies to watch. This film is about a couple of homeowners who face some extraordinary activity while sleeping. Therefore, they decide to record it on a camera. Watch this movie and discover what they filmed.

Talking about new-released horror movies, ‘The Platform’ is one of the most popular scary movies. It shows the prison of the future with its prisoners. The building has a vertical form with hundreds of floors. Each cell with two prisoners is a prison’s level.

There are no guards, so that prisoners are allowed to do all that they want. However, the main problem is the unfair system of delivering food because of what a lot of people starve.

 

Brandon Vietti | BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY

Batman death in the family red hood

In anticipation of the release of DC animation’s first interactive film, Batman: Death in the Family, STARBURST caught up with director, writer, producer, and all-round DC veteran Brandon Vietti to discuss Jason Todd’s story, inviting fans to choose his path, and why this arc has stayed so important to Batman’s development.

STARBURST: Firstly, why did you want to revisit this particular story in the Batman canon?

Brandon Vietti: Well, I think this particular story is famous for putting the choice of killing Jason Todd in the hands of the fans and of the comic book readers. So when we decided to do an interactive story for Blu-ray and for DC animation, this was the obvious choice: to take this famous point in comic book history, and explore it in a new way, give our audience more options, more choices to make other than should Jason Todd live or die. You get to make a whole bunch of choices and see how those choices play out going down different paths, in hopefully, very unexpected but entertaining ways, while still maintaining the core of the character. I think that was the fun part of this project, to really study who Jason Todd is and to maintain that character, no matter what happens to him, no matter what choices he makes, for him to still be that same guy.

We take it that means this movie was always going to be an interactive one?

It was, yeah. Again, because of that story being rooted in putting the choice in the hands of the audience. This was just the obvious choice. And it was such great fortune that we had already sort of touched on that story in Under the Red Hood. That story is one which fans really like and gravitate towards. It was great to revisit parts of that story, and to go back to other stories that we didn’t quite get to tell the first time. You get some new and familiar plots, but you see them in brand new ways or see them go in different directions. It’s an interesting exploration of that Jason Todd story from different angles that our audience gets to participate in.

And what do you think that participatory element adds to viewers’ understanding of the story and their appreciation of Jason Todd?  

I think it integrates them into the story more. And that’s the goal of this, I think. I think it will draw you in more deeply when you get to make the choices for the character. I think that makes you relate to the character more because you participate in the paths that they take. But you also feel the results of your choices more deeply. I tried to make sure that with each choice you make, the outcomes are not necessarily what you expect they’re going to be and you have to own that, because you drove the character in that direction. And those outcomes may be good, they may be bad. You just have to own it and feel that. I think that’s an interesting way to take part in the story, it connects you to the character and immerses you in the story in a deeper way, which is a really appealing concept to me as a storyteller.

You mention connecting with the character but in 1988, when fans were asked to vote on Jason’s fate, that was partly because most fans had taken a dislike to him. Why do you think Jason Todd continues to be a divisive character amongst fans?

He’s of the Batman family, but a family member who turned to the dark side. I think that’s a great story. Batman’s universe and Batman’s villains are very psychologically grounded, they’re not always about big superpowers or anything. There’s a complex psychology involved that makes them villains, and to have a character like Jason Todd, who came up under Batman’s wings, so to speak, cross over to the dark side and become a murderer himself… but from his point of view, he’s doing it to further Batman’s goals, in a way he feels Batman might be falling short. So this story really challenges Batman at the core of who he is, challenges his methods and the shape his drive for justice takes. It’s a challenge to his heroism. And it’s just a worst-case scenario for Batman, to have a family member that has gone so far astray, but still comes back to challenge him. That challenge of ideals is endlessly interesting.

You’ve done so much work with DC and with Batman in particular; what keeps you coming back for more?

Well, number one, I just love Batman. I’ve been a huge fan for a very long time. I also just love the DC Universe and its many characters, and how they’re very flexible. I’ve been very lucky to do a lot of different Batman shows with an incredible range of styles and tones, from Lego Batman to Batman: The Brave and the Bold, to this very dark and sophisticated Batman story that we’re doing with Death in the Family and Under the Red Hood. And, you know, I love that no matter the tone you drop Batman into, whether it’s comedy or drama, he remains the same character at his core.

DC SHOWCASE BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY is coming October 13th to Digital and October 26th to Blu-ray.

Vincent Martella | BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY

jason todd robin death in the family

Batman: Death in the Family is the latest animated feature from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment and DC, and their first interactive short movie. In anticipation of its release, STARBURST had to pleasure of speaking with Vincent Martella, best known for his roles in Everybody Hates Chris and Phineas and Ferb, who returned as Jason Todd after first voicing him in Batman: Under the Red Hood alongside Jensen Ackles, ten years ago.

STARBURST: We wanted to start by asking, how did it feel to return to the role of Jason Todd after so many years?

Vincent Martella: You know, I was very surprised to get the call that I’d be able to play him again, given everything that happens in Under the Red Hood. I was really excited and, to be quite frank, I didn’t have the most work to do in Under the Red Hood. I had a couple of scenes. And so getting an opportunity to really flesh this character out and really explore who he is, I was super excited to get the chance to do that. It’s what every actor likes to do, to really dig deep into a character.

What else excited you about this film, and about its interactive format in particular?

Well, what was interesting was that when I was first approached about it, I didn’t know that it was interactive. Once they sent the scripts, they started telling me that there’d be different options and that they’d explain it all when I got to the studio. Brandon Vietti [writer-director] and Wes Gleason [casting director] really helped me understand it, and they laid out an actual diagram of what each choice means and where it sends the character, and what that means for Jason Todd’s life, whether it adds trauma or takes things away from him, or… It was a learning process, but I was even more excited to do it once I knew the entire scope of the project.

From an audience perspective, what would you say the interactive element adds to the story and people’s understanding of Jason Todd?

I’m not going to say what some of the choices are, but they are big choices. So just having the power and the ability to do that and think, “Okay, this is about to take Jason’s life in a completely new direction,” that is something unusual and new to DC animation. And some of these choices give you a lot more footage, while others can wrap things up more quickly. So, I encourage people to explore a lot of the different options that they give you because there’s a lot of story there.

And of course, Jason Todd’s death is an arc that has remained a really important one to the Batman canon. Why was it a good one to revisit?

I mean, it’s something that Brandon discussed. He felt so attached to this storyline and felt like there was more of the story to tell. And I think when you have a character like Jason Todd where the fans are so invested in them, it’s generally beneficial for them to learn more about them. It just seemed like the right time to dive back into this character.

As you well know, there was a vote in 1988 and fans decided to kill Jason Todd. Do you think people would make the same choice now?

What’s interesting is that, yeah, fans voted for Jason to die, but given so much time has gone by, and how much fans now know about Jason Todd and the Red Hood, I am curious to know what choices are going to be the most common? What pathways are going to excite them most? That’s what I’m really looking forward to, is the fan response to seeing all the different and interesting places they can take this character. And it’s more than just one or the other now, there are so many options.

If you were offered to return to the role once again, would come back? Or are you now satisfied that you’ve gotten all you can out of this role?

I certainly would if there was more story to tell. I mean, that’s something which is up to the great writers DC has. This character is really fun to play, and who doesn’t like being a part of the Batman universe? I mean that’s so exciting personally, and I’m a fan of DC so I would absolutely come back for some more Jason Todd action. We’ll just have to see whether the opportunity arises.

And lastly, what projects have you got coming up?

This is coming up, of course. Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candance Against the Universe just came out on Disney+ in August, and I hope everyone goes and watches that. And then I have a movie called Shallow Water coming out sometime next year, but who knows when movies are coming out!

DC SHOWCASE BATMAN: DEATH IN THE FAMILY is coming to Digital on October 13th, followed by a Blu-ray release on October 26th.

NYFF58: BEST OF THE FEST

letitia wright in mangrove

Today marks the last of twenty-five days of world cinema at the 58th New York Film Festival, screened both virtually and at NYC drive-ins. STARBURST has rounded up a selection of the best movies the Festival has to offer across its Main Slate, Spotlight, Currents, and Revivals categories.

As an aside, it’s worth noting that this list is based solely on the selection of films available for press & industry preview; some notable titles such as David Byrne’s American Utopia from director Spike Lee, Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks, and German-French drama Undine were not given early access, hence their absence from this round-up. Now, and without further ado, let’s delve into our Best of the NYFF Fest!

Steve McQueen’s SMALL AXE Anthology

Produced by the BBC and Amazon Studios, acclaimed director Steve McQueen created five films as part of his Small Axe anthology. Three of these opened New York Film Festival: Mangrove, Lovers Rock, and Red, White and Blue. Set between the ‘60s and mid ‘80s, each film centres on the experiences of London’s West Indian community “whose lives have been shaped by their own force of will, despite rampant racism and discrimination.”

SMALL AXE

McQueen also added that although the films “are about the past, they are very much concerned with the present. A commentary on where we were, where we are and where we want to go.” Black Panther’s Letitia Wright stars in Mangrove, the first instalment of the series and a gripping dramatization of the events surrounding the landmark 1970 trial of the Mangrove Nine. It shines as a sharp indictment of the systemic racism in law and order, as timely a retelling as there could be in 2020.

Lovers Rock is the second film, the only one in the series to not recount true events and possibly the most beautiful and enthralling among them. Lovers Rock perfectly captures a moment and feeling in time celebrating Black joy, music, and love. And lastly, Star Wars’ John Boyega gives a career-best performance in Small Axe’s final film, Red, White and Blue as real-life figure Leroy Logan. A member of the London Metropolitan Police Force, this biopic traces the early years of Logan’s career as he witnesses and experiences the organisation’s racism, one which he would eventually try to dismantle.

NOMADLAND, from Marvel’s THE ETERNALS director Chloé Zhao

Frances McDormand stars in Zhao’s beautifully sensitive third feature, adapted from Jessica Brudger’s 2017 nonfiction book about the lives of itinerant older Americans. McDormand is self-effacing in her performance as Fern, a widow who travels the American West in search of seasonal work after losing everything to the recession; Nomadland is also populated with a supporting cast of non-actors, playing versions of themselves. A compassionate portrait of those left behind by the 2008 crash, Nomadland is unmissable.

THE HUMAN VOICE, the English-language debut short from Pedro Almodóvar

Tilda Swinton is hypnotic as a woman traumatised by the end of an affair, adapted from Jean Cocteau’s 1930 play of the same name. Drifting across her apartment in haute couture, Swinton gives a theatrical performance which proves surprisingly timely: trapped alone between four walls, trying to find connection in phone conversations, this short film proves to be a resonant portrait of loneliness. Stylish and featuring stunning set pieces, The Human Voice is above all a 30-minute visual delight.

THE HUMAN VOICE

FRENCH EXIT, starring a phenomenal Michelle Pfeiffer

Closing the 58th New York Film Festival is French Exit, an absurdist satire from director Azazel Jacobs which brings together an all-star cast which includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Imogen Poots, Valerie Mahaffey, Danielle Macdonald, and Salem Saberhagen (looking notably sleeker and richer than he did in the 90s). At times uneven and slightly meandering, French Exit is nonetheless wryly funny and worth watching for the power of Pfeiffer’s performance alone.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, at 20

First released in 2000, In the Mood for Love is one of eleven films selected for NYFF’s Revivals slate. Wong Kar Wai’s gorgeous art house romance stars Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung as next-door neighbours in 1960s Hong Kong who discover their respective spouses are having an affair. The absence of their spouses leaves room for a platonic romance to blossom, as Wong teases a deliberately paced, “will they, won’t they” love story.  The cinematography alone is reason enough to seek out this swoon-worthy classic.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

Nathan Hill | ALIENS DOWN UNDER

nathan hill aliens

We catch up with an Australian filmmaker whose enlightening documentaries are making waves down under…

STARBURST: What made you become interested in making documentaries?

Nathan Hill: To be honest, the part I like the most about owning a DVD or a Blu-ray is the special features and featurettes you can explore. The ‘making of’ and the reality side to movies has always intrigued me. So I guess delving into the documentary realm felt like a good transition, or additional stream to what I normally create – that being the ‘moving image’.

How far did you go to research Sex Down Under?

With SDU we really went very far down the rabbit’s hole. What started out as a fun topic to explore, but it became an ever quite seedy one as we progressed, sometimes even scarily, in fact. It was the darker side of the industry and a subject that I hadn’t fully encountered, living right beneath the city. What some people do to play out their sexual fantasies is gobsmacking.

What was the most startling thing you found while making it?

The most startling would have to be our discoveries inside an S&M dungeon, where  people enact their vile and sadistic tendencies and actually pay top dollar for. I was horrified to find out that most of the customers were in fact members of the police, fire-fighters, judges, and politicians, to name but a few. It seems that people of the most distinguished careers and professions are in fact the ones with the most vulgar taste for the sexually absurd.

Were there any moments you thought you wouldn’t be able to show?

There was one spot where they started to show us an instrument where a man would insert his head into a cage-like device. He would then allow a paid mistress to either urinate or excrete her faeces into his mouth. I almost vomited when I saw it and learned what it was used for. I became very claustrophobic in that environment and was constantly looking over my shoulder. It was truly horrible. What the walls had witnessed inside that place are not for the timid or faint hearted, I can tell you.

Did you have an interest in UFOs before making Aliens Down Under?

I’ve always had an interest in UFOs since I was a kid, I don’t know anyone who isn’t or hasn’t been interested in the subject at one time or another! My favourite fictional movies on the subject would probably be Xtro and The Man Who Fell to Earth. It’s foolish to think we are the only ones on the planet, or the solar system for that matter. ADU was the perfect chance for me to throw my hat in the ring and explore the subject on my own terms. It’s something that’s always fascinated me.

Are you a believer after making it?

The scariest thing about making this documentary is that all of the people I interviewed have never met, yet they all claim to have seen a similar thing. In fact Rebecca’s encounters really made me sit up and believe. She’s a really nice, dare I say simple, unthreatening person, who looks you dead in the eye and tells her story like it was yesterday. I couldn’t fault her.

What was the strangest, most compelling story of the film?

I think the most compelling story of ADU is the one told by Aaron. I mean, the guy’s a friggin’ science teacher and a physicist and when he speaks to you, you know it’s the truth. He’s seen a UFO a couple of times and had people alongside him to even share in the testimonials. It creeped me out and gave me a funny sense of déjà vu when he spoke. Watch and listen to him if you’re a disbeliever!

Which set of interview subjects did you find to be the most open – the sex workers or alien witnesses?

Strangely, I thought that the ADU interviewees would be the most open about the subject, but not in this case. They were quite guarded, reserved, and one would say ‘mature’. Whereas the SDU interviewees were quite liberated, open, and verbally loud about the topic. Sex was just an everyday thing, whereas the alien spotting was special, rare, and intriguing to say the least.

Are there any plans for more documentaries in the ‘Down Under’ banner?

I’m loving the Down Under films at the moment. In fact, we have a new one on the slate titled Bigfoot Down Under. This time, we delve deep into the Blue Mountains to try and spot the ‘Yowie’, which is the Australian term for Bigfoot. It’s already proving to be quite fascinating, with the first ever spotting recorded as early as 1795. Intriguing subjects and a slate of ideas are forming and I look forward to what the future brings. My goal is to release a box set of the work in a Down Under series when it’s all said and done. How many we will make? I’m not sure yet of the number.

Would you be interested in making narrative films?

Absolutely. In fact, I’ve made a few. I have decent concepts on just about all genres and feature-length scripts just waiting to be made. I’m also an actor, writer, producer, casting director and director so there’s not much I haven’t done, or can do, when it comes to film in front and/or behind the camera. It’s my life blood. I live, breathe and dream about film in all its genres, mediums and forms. I’m very passionate and enthusiastic about creativity. It is, as they say, king.

Aliens Down Under and Sex Down Under are available on DVD.

Giles Alderson | THE DARE

To celebrate the UK release of his horror film The Dare, we sat down with Writer/Director Giles Alderson to talk about his feature debut, working with Richard Brake and making the transition from in front of the camera to behind it.

STARBURST: Congratulations on the film. It’s finally being released in the UK. How excited are you to share it with your home crowd?

GILES ALDERSON: Thank you! I could not be more excited to share it with the home crowd. When I started off writing The Dare it was just two ideas that I put together. And it was always British and had that British feel so to finally have it released over here is great.

You co-wrote the script with Johnny Grant – where did the idea come from and how did the project begin?

Well as I said it was two ideas that I had in my notebooks that I am constantly adding to and I put them together to start writing with my friend Johnny [Grant]. I was originally going to make it for peanuts as I just wanted to get a feature made because a lot of the time the reason you can’t make a feature is because you haven’t made one – people don’t trust you.

Even if you make one for nothing in your garden, that is better than nothing at all. Originally it was English with all English characters but then we decided it would play better if we made them all American – it also made sense to set it in America because of the location of a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere (laughs).

You started off your career in film as an actor and continue to act today. How was it making the jump from in front of the camera to behind it?

It was wonderful. I remember when I directed my first proper thing which was a pilot for the BBC and I fell in love with the idea of directing – you chose where the cameras go, you chose how things appear on screen, and it just blew my mind. I thought “oh my gosh, this could be a career”. Nothing compared to directing. So, I started directing short films and ad campaigns and here we are ten years later, and I finally have my first feature made!

For us, the standout performer is the brilliant Richard Brake as Credence – how was it having someone of his talent on board with the project?

When we were writing it, we didn’t have specific people in mind, we just wanted to get it written first. When it all became serious and we began casting, Richard Brake was always one of the names on the list – and I soon as I knew that he was interested, he had to play Credence.

Even though Credence was written as a bigger man and bigger character, I love Richard’s work and we had a great meeting and from that moment he was my guy. When I heard he was interested I got incredibly excited about it and all the possibilities of how amazing he could be in the role.

The practical effects were great – was that always the plan for more practical over CG?

Absolutely, with The Dare, I always wanted practical from the very beginning. I actually tried so hard to not have any CG whatsoever, but obviously, with what happens in the film, you kinda have to use a least a little (laughs) – even though the actors wanted to do some of the crazy things I had planned! Sometimes as well, using a little bit of CG makes things look so much better especially when you have elements within these stunts that are completely out of your control. We had so much fun with the effects in this film.

You also recently produced the outstanding A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life – what was it like working on that?

It was incredible working with Poppy and Staten on that as I’ve known them a long, long time and I’ve worked with them before on their short This Way Out. We actually shot A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life after I had finished with The Dare so the timelines on those releases are all over the place! Filmmaking, eh? (laughs)

The Dare is out now on VOD and is released on DVD on October 12th.

Mark Dacascos | THE DRIVER

driver

After fighting John Wick as Zero in the depths of Manhattan, actor MARK DACASCOS is now up against a supernatural threat with his new film, THE DRIVER. Directed by Wych Kaos, it tells the story of a former hitman who now has to survive a zombie apocalypse! Acting alongside his real-life wife Julie Condra and daughter Noelani Dacascos, this zombie flick aims for an emotional setting by putting the spotlight firmly on the family relationship. We caught up with Mark to discuss his new movie and more…

How did you get involved with The Driver?

Back in 2018, I had been friends with Wych Kaos, he is the director, writer, producer of The Driver. We did a movie many years before, in Thailand called The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone, we stayed in touch and we had a good rapport. He sent me the script while I was on the set of a Hallmark movie, The Perfect Bride. I read it during my break, and I loved it. I saw that there was a wonderful part for the daughter, and a part for the wife. I thought “I have a daughter, she’s an actress. I have a wife, she’s an actress.” So I thought I may as well submit them for those parts. I talked to Wych about it, he agreed that it could be interesting, and a couple of days later he said yes. Then he started working on trying to get the financing together. Cut to a couple of months later, I was invited by Chad Stahelski to join the John Wick franchise as Zero in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. So once I got that, and it was announced, a couple of days later I heard that it was a lot easier to get our financing. So as soon as I wrapped on John Wick in July, a couple of months later, my wife Julie Condra, our daughter Noelani Dacascos and myself went off to Thailand to start shooting The Driver.

You’re once again working with director/writer Wych Kaos, can you elaborate on what it is you like so much about working with him?

I love his sensibility. He’s romantic, he likes action, quirky, interesting characters. I like the way he shoots. On a small budget, that we had for The Driver, we had to shoot fast anyway. I have a feeling, and hopefully Wych and I will find this out together, but on a bigger budget he’d still shoot pretty quick, and I like that. It keeps you in the story, the juices flowing, and it keeps you on edge. He’s really good like that. He brings depth, and I like his style of filmmaking, in that it’s still some-what full. What I love about Wych, is that you can take each character and go deeper with it if you want. He brings real relationships to this other world.

What it was like to work alongside your real-life wife (Julie Condra) and daughter (Noelani Dacascos) on screen?

So with Julie, we hadn’t worked together since Cyring Freeman back in 1994. It had been a long time. Neither of us had ever worked with our daughter Noelani, and of course we had never all worked together. The great thing about that was getting on set, to prepare for the scenes, as long as I was grounded, present – I won’t talk about what their process was because we’re all different – I could look in their eyes and get there in a flash. I had known my daughter since her first day, and she’s playing my daughter in the movie. She was the appropriate age for the character, everything was there. So all I had to do was look at her, and bam I could click in. It was the same with my wife. I want to believe that that chemistry transcends, and that the audience can also feel that. It’s about as real as you can get.

You obviously spent a lot of time filming with your daughter, so looking back on the movie, which scene did you find the most rewarding to work on with her, and why?

I won’t give any spoilers, but from the big compound scene we’re on edge the whole time. Of course, the final scene with us together was challenging, because you never want to have to say those words. However, it was also really wonderful, we got to connect on a very real level, because of who we are in our relationship. And then to also play with all of those wonderful feelings, knowing that after Wych yells cut, that we’d still be around to enjoy each other. It gave us a certain freedom to walk alongside death, in a very tangible way, without having to go there yet. It feels like with nearly every scene in the movie with her, because of the situation, it was deep.

Also, for you personally, what did you enjoy the most about playing a father figure in a zombie apocalypse?

Playing with my actual wife and daughter was just wonderful, because we got to not just experience our lives on the camera, but also off set. We got to go there, it’s really a fight or flight movie, we do both in it. For my daughter it’s a coming of age movie. She got to drive a car for the first time in her life, Wych taught her how to drive a BMW on the roads of Thailand, in the jungle. She had a blast doing that. Then on Halloween, her friends back in California were dressing up, and she was shooting zombies. It was really fun. What I just loved about it, was that we hit so many emotions, and found so many colours, because of our real relationships. We could go there and play with it.

Leading on from that, in the film, it seems like the bond between the father and daughter became closer by the end. So would you agree with that, and for you, how else do you think their relationship changed over the course of the film?

Yes, in the hours that the story takes place we go from zero to one hundred, of beginning and end. We have to put all of these things that I would normally have used, talked about, or tell her, show her through feelings, I’ve got to do that in a very short amount of time. So yes, the characters certainly grow together. As a real father and daughter, I feel like that brought us closer together playing that. We had to trust each other doing the scenes, and in the scenes our characters are 100% committed to each other. It’s weird, but it’s all connected.

You don’t have a lot of fight scenes in this one, however, as a martial arts pro, we must ask you which action scene did you enjoy putting together the most in The Driver?

I had a really fun time working with Brahim and his fighters in the compound, before we had to leave. With any smaller budgeted film, we did not have a lot of time to rehearse or film, but I think that actually added to the energy, because we knew we had to get it done. It had that chaotic vibe as it needed to have, because we were being invaded. That was really fun. To go from that, to the emotions of before, and then right after the fight, knowing what I had to go do, wondering what the outcome was for my family. All these things together, were really fun. It wasn’t just fighting an opponent, or a bad guy, it was fight to survive, and wondering if my family survived? There’s a lot of things going on that might of not been physicalised, but they were there emotionally.

driver

We hear that The Driver is part of a trilogy, with Dead Earth already released. Can you explain how The Driver fits into this trilogy overall, and maybe what else Wych has planned for it?

Yeah, it’s a trilogy, and I hope that Wych gets to do the third one. The script is great, I read all three of them, they’re all really fun, and you see how they progress. Whether he does it or not, I don’t know, but I hope so. He has Kane Kosugi slated for number three. They wanted to do a sequel or number four to The Driver, where Noelani is fifteen/sixteen and just a full-on fighter girl. I’m hoping, because I think that would be really fun for them, and the audience.

We can’t let you go without asking just one question about John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. What was it like to film that huge final glass fight scene with Keanu Reeves, and what were the creative team behind this film like to work with?

I loved being a part of that movie, for so many different reasons, but most of all, because the leaders of that show, from producers, of course to Chad Stahelski our director and Keanu Reeves, they were just ace human beings. We had a big budget, if Chad wanted to shoot in Grand Central Terminal, he’d do it. If he wanted to film in Times Square, he’d rent out Times Square. He had the studio to back him up. The humanity, humility, the collaborative spirits, and the professionalism was off the charts, as you’d hope it would be. Also, yes, Keanu is as cool, kind, collaborative and humble as we all hear. At least he was for me during the three months that I was working with him. We’re there shooting the finale fight in that glass building, and of course he is working longer hours than all of the other actors, he is there with full heart and passion. When we were doing the fight scene, and he grabs me and he goes for the throat, I had bruises on my forearm for two or three days after. I was hoping they would last longer, because I like to show everybody, like “Hey! Keanu gave me this bruise”. He is strong when he grabs. Chad and 87eleven Action Design trained him well, and obviously he put in the time, because when he grabbed me, I thought “Okay, I’m going flying!”. Fortunately for me, I’m really happy to say that Keanu and I did ninety percent of our own fight, but when it came to the heavy hits or throws – thank goodness for us – our wonderful talented stunt men took them! Keanu threw my stunt man around a lot. Keanu says that he is only a movie fighter, but, he’s got skills, and he’s really strong and athletic. So yeah, that was really fun, it also made it really easy to get into the character. In real life, obviously I am a Keanu Reeves fan, but, I’m also a John Wick fan. So, when I stepped into Zero’s skin, it was almost seamless. When I looked over, I had to really focus, because I’m looking at John Wick and I’m thinking “This is so cool, I’m fighting John Wick!” but that’s what my character would think anyway, so it’s perfect!

Lionsgate UK unleash THE DRIVER on Digital Download from October 12th and DVD from October 19th

 

[ENDED] Win a NAIL IN THE COFFIN Promotional Box

Nail in the Coffin: The Fall & Rise of Vampiro

With Nail in the Coffin: The Fall & Rise of Vampiro now available, we’ve got our hands on a fantastic promotional box to give away to one lucky reader.

This promo box features two Region Free Blu-ray copies of Michael Paszt’s Nail in the Coffin, with one of these copies signed by wrestling icon Vampiro himself. Elsewhere in this package, there are numerous badges and stickers, a poster, a bandana, and a letter from filmmaker Paszt.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning this prize is answer the below question:

What is Vampiro’s real name?

a) Hulk Hogan

b) Ian Hodgkinson

c) Randy Savage

Please send your answers to [email protected] labelled Vampiro before midnight on Sunday, October 11th.

In addition to this competition, we also did an unboxing video to showcase what you can expect from this brilliant prize:

The official synopsis for Nail in the Coffin reads:

Semi-retired professional wrestler Ian Hodgkinson reveals the harsh realities behind the glamour of being in the world of wrestling as the infamous ‘Vampiro’.

A Lucha Libre legend, Hodgkinson tells the astonishing story about his meteoric rise to fame in the 90’s and how it almost killed him. Yet none of that was as back-breaking as his current life – working behind-the-scenes as the Director of Talent for Lucha Libre AAA in Mexico City and Lucha Underground in Los Angeles, while simultaneously raising his teenage daughter Dasha in remote Northern Canada as a single parent.

Unlike many professional wrestling documentaries before, director Michael Paszt has constructed a fascinating and heartfelt look at a wrestler who has overcome and continues to battle with physical injuries, sexual abuse, and drug addiction. Not to mention the wild stories of working for Milli Vanilli, and wrestling alongside the punk rock band The Misfits – Vampiro’s stories are multi-faceted and completely enthralling.

Told through an engrossing collection of home videos and personal interviews with his closest friends and family, NAIL IN THE COFFIN is an intimate and genuine look into a single father grappling with fame, the pressures of professional and personal responsibilities, and his own mortality.

Nail in the Coffin: The Fall & Rise of Vampiro is available now on VOD and Blu-ray.

The Umbrella Academy: Previous Appearances From The Main Stars

Nominated for two primetime Emmys, The Umbrella Academy is another show tapping into the public’s seemingly insatiable thirst for superheroes. The plot centres on seven unrelated children brought together as a family by a billionaire industrialist at The Umbrella Academy with a plan to save the world. Of course, things don’t go to plan, and instead of bringing global salvation, the six have to work together to solve the mysterious death of their ‘father’. The scenario is played out with the threat of global apocalypse in the background as the group have to battle their divergent abilities and personalities. Over the past few years, there has been a rise of binge-worthy TV shows with The Umbrella Academy being one of the most popular ones. The series was one of the most watched shows on Netflix in December 2019 with over 45 million viewers.

After fans saw The Umbrella Academy trailer for season one, it was clear to see that the show was going to be hugely popular. Fast forward to this year, and season two was released on Netflix to continue on the story from the huge climactic ending that left viewers wishing to see more. Whether you have already finished the second season, or you’re just about the start, here are some of the roles that the siblings had been in before they became the superheroes of The Umbrella Academy.

Number One – Luther

Tom Hopper

For fans of big-time drama series, some people are going to recognise Tom Hopper more recently for his small role as Dickon Tarly from Game of Thrones. However, millennials in Europe and the UK might also recognise him as Sir Percival in the BBC series Merlin, who fought along King Arthur as a roguish knight. You may also recognise him as Billy Bones in Black Sails, a show in which he also showed off his torso and arms from time-to-time. Trying to play head of the family as the number one sibling, Luther certainly struggles at times with the responsibility.

Number Two – Diego

David Castañeda

David is quite a newbie compared to the rest and has appeared in a few tv show episodes and short films in his career so far.  His most successful appearance previous to The Umbrella Academy is in the movie Sicario 2: Soldado (2018) as Hector. To date, David has always played bit parts of little importance, so here is hoping he makes it big in Umbrella Academy as Number Two in the Hargreeves family.

Number Three – Allison

Emmy Raver-Lampman

With just eleven credits on IMDb, Emmy is also another actor who is less experienced than some other cast members. Though you may recognise her voice from her voice acting career in shows like American Dad (an angry townsperson), and Peppermint from Robot Chicken. As one of her first big roles, her character Number Three certainly has an interesting talent with her special abilities in The Umbrella Academy, so it’s intriguing to see what comes next for the character and actress.

Number Four – Klaus

Robert Sheehan

Long before The Umbrella Academy, Robert Sheehan made a name for himself with the popular TV series Misfits. Playing a young person who develops superpowers probably made him a perfect fit for playing another one in The Umbrella Academy. In his career he has starred in many other TV shows including Genius, Fortitude, and Love/Hate. For fans of other popular supernatural-type content, Sheehan even appeared in the 2013 Hollywood film The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Loved by many fans online, he certainly plays a fun, annoying, and loveable character in The Umbrella Academy.

Number Five – Five

Aidan Gallagher

Nickelodeon viewers may recognize Aidan Gallagher him from Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, where, even though he was young, he played a good part. He’s relatively new to acting, only having his first credit in 2013. Since then, he has starred in a few shorts and TV movies such as We Make That Lemonade and Jacked Up. Playing a more sophisticated and intelligent role as ‘Five’ in The Umbrella Academy, the young actor definitely knows how to take centre stage as the wisest of the siblings.

Number Six – Ben

Justin H. Min

Justin H. Min has been in many TV series and shorts including Dating After College, American Refugee and Faking It. Compared to his other co-stars, Min had a much smaller role to play in season one of the show. Although, fans still got to see his emotional and funny sequences with Robert Sheehan due to Number Four’s special abilities.

Number Seven – Vanya

Ellen Page

It is not difficult to see why the Umbrella Academy show producers turned Ellen Page into the untouchably strong and perfect female character in the show, since she is one of the biggest named stars. Many probably recognise her from the X-men movies, but older viewers might remember her eerily chilling role in Hard Candy. Even as a younger actress, it was a difficult role that she mastered, which then pushed her onto bigger movies like Juno, Inception, and X-men.

Only time will tell if The Umbrella Academy offers any serious impact on these actors’ careers, but for now the show and characters are becoming loved by fans all over the world.

Terry Zarchi | GROWING UP WITH I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE

terry zarchi

With the release of I Spit on Your Grave in 4K UHD Blu-ray, which includes the original film and the documentary, Growing Up With I Spit on Your Grave, we revisit our chat with Terry Zarchi, the director of the doc, who happens to be the son of the original director, Meir Zarchi…

STARBURST: How old were you when your dad made I Spit on Your Grave – or Day of the Woman as it was then?

Terry Zarchi: I was nine years old at the time.

And you were in the film too, which is great.

Yes, I was minding my own business in Connecticut, visiting the set – of course being kept far away from any nudity, which was practically keeping away from the set period! And then I was approached to be in the movie. And I was very scared, I was a shy kid. I kept refusing and before I knew it, crew members were surrounding begging me to be in the film, and I finally agreed after I was offered my $10. I did not willingly put myself in this film, but that was the start of me growing up with I Spit on Your Grave.

When did you become aware of the movie’s content?

I was visiting my father’s office in Manhatten while he was editing the movie. I heard lots of shouting and yelling in the other room – they were editing the sounds of the movie, I was like ‘what in the world is he making here?’ When I was about 14 or 15, I finally saw the entire movie from beginning to end. And I have to say I was definitely shocked at what I saw.

We guess you’ve come to accept the movie now.

Of course, I had no choice! The reason why I wanted to make the documentary was because I really felt there was a bigger story to be told, to me this movie I Spit on Your Grave has become more than a movie, it’s become a discussion. And when a movie becomes a discussion, it becomes a little bigger than the screen, a little bigger than life. So I felt that it was important for me to share what I know, and my access to all the materials that my father has given me the privilege to put my hands on. And what you see in that documentary is 100% my story without Meir telling me how to edit anything in or out. That’s the beauty of it, he let me have free rein.

So growing up were you aware of the controversy over here in the UK?

I was aware of the controversy, yeah. I even remember when my father went out to a show out there. I remember him going out there because of the allegations of a teenager who had raped someone and blamed it on I Spit on Your Grave and other movies like it. So yes, I was very aware of that.

Did that cloud your judgement over the film at any point?

No, it’s a difficult film to judge, you know, even to this day and I think that’s what makes it so fascinating, it’s a horrible, terrible subject matter. And it’s a difficult movie to watch, and I don’t believe this is a movie to watch for entertainment purposes. When people ask me, do I recommend it, I say no I don’t recommend it! If you can handle it, see it. And you know, people see this film now because they hear about it so often. And I believe a lot of movies that were made 40/50 years ago that you look at it today feel very watered down – with this movie, there’s no watering down after all these decades, it’s still as horrifying and shocking as it was back then.

We would totally agree with you, it’s harrowing. It’s something that you don’t want to see, but it’s important to have that reaction to what’s going on.

Exactly. And I think a lot of people hear so many things about his film that they know how brutal it may be, but they want to test their reactions and they watch it. It’s a very interesting movie, but I never expected it to still have legs after all these years. And here we are.

Was there much of an outcry over in the States?

Of course, Siskel and Ebert tried to remove the movie from the theatres, and they were successful. They went in front of the theatres back in 1980, and they picketed telling the theatre owners and the audience members not to see this film. And with so much pressure, all the movie theatre owners pulled the film from the screen. And they thought they had victory over this movie, but a few months later the home video industry appeared and people heard about the controversy, and then it became top 10 on the charts all over the place because of that.

When did you get first get the idea to make the documentary?

It was shortly after the release of the remake and I saw that it was doing well, and then when there was a part two in the works, I said, ‘Okay, I have the ability to make this documentary because I’m a videographer by trade. I do event videography so my cameras were in my closet. It was like a simple thing where I’ll bring my camera to the people, and I’ll film them, and get myself a little story here. And it all started out where I thought I was going to just film Meir, and then Camille agreed to be in it, and then I got Eron Taber, who was Johnny in the film, and then I got Gunter Kleemann, who played Andy. So, before you knew it, I had a lot of talking heads. I found the production manager from the original film, so I knew I had a great story to tell, beyond what people thought they knew about this film, and I was excited to share that. So it was around 2012 we started thinking about doing this and it took me five years to make.

You were a producer on the sequel to the original; what was the shooting schedule like for Déjà Vu? It’s a long film!

Yes it is. We started filming in September of 2015. September 21st, and then we finished filming around, I think November 2nd. We shot for 29 days. And we had the luxury of doing as many takes and Meir taking the time that he needed. Meir was taking this time, he would gather all the actors every morning, or he would read the pages on the script to familiarise the actors and himself with everything. He wasn’t looking at the clock. I was!  Our line producer was! But Meir wasn’t, he was very calm and he knew what he wanted to do so, we gave him all the support that he needed, and we were so pleased that Camille Keaton and Meir Zarchi got back together to do this.

It was amazing to see Camille back.

Yeah, exactly. And for her to do such a physically demanding role at her age and looking so fantastic. There was a lot of running around in that movie, it was very physically demanding. And she pulled it through.

Absolutely. How did your father take to working in the digital format?

It was different, I really enjoyed the fact that we went out there and we shot it very naturally. 95-98% of the movie was shot in the daylight, we only really had one scene at night time, the cemetery scene, and we had one quick interior scene. Other than that, the whole entire film was shot outdoors with natural light. In the beginning, before we filmed, we found a look that we all agreed on. We wanted to be as naturalistic and as close as possible to look like the original even with the digital aspect. I’m pleased with the look of the film, I think we came through with that aspect.

What was the hardest part of filming the sequel?

The hardest part of the shoot was the day was when Jamie Bernadette playing the character of Christy Hill was sexually assaulted; that was a very rough few days. It was very, very hot. It was a very tough sequence because it’s not easy to shoot scenes of sexual assault, they’re really not easy at all. We really enjoyed all the gore scenes, like Herman getting the sickle in his back, and Kevin getting the bottle in between his legs – those scenes were where we were having a good time!

There’s a new group of antagonists led by the family of the original rapists. It’s interesting to have a woman – Becky, played by Maria Olsen – as the head of them.

Yeah, Becky is almost the carbon copy of Johnny from the original – she took over the cap. She took on his role she became the leader of her local pack, in the way Johnny was the leader of his pack. So yeah, you’re right about that.

It’s an interesting contrast, because we’re all led to believe women are not as nasty as men but she’s probably just as nasty if not more.

I appreciated the fact that the leader of the pack was a female, it brought a different spin on it.

There’s also the religious aspects of an eye for an eye, which means you’re never finished, because everybody’s going on forever…

Exactly, it’s a never-ending cycle of blood.

The I Spit on Your Grave 4KUHD Blu-ray featuring Terry Zarchi’s documentary Growing Up With I Spit on Your Grave is out now.