News

The "sophomore slump" in art is such an assumed phenomenon that it feels almost unfairly like a prerequisite more than a common occurrence. Sure, many creatives often follow up groundbreaking debuts with efforts that don't quite reach the same level of quality and/or success, but there are far more whose follow-up album or film is just as good in its own unique way. In some cases, it takes time for these works to be fully appreciated, as the fog of hype and expectation can cloud one's judgment, of course. These factors are only heightened by the volume of opinions from audiences and critics who wish to participate in another trend that's commonly associated with follow-up films: people love to pile on what negativity they can, perhaps to prove that an artist isn't as good as they've been cracked up to be, or to humble them, or whatever psychology you'd...

“Unbeing dead isn't being alive.”—E. E. Cummings Pet Sematary, Stephen King’s most caliginous work, is unrelenting and unrepentant. The 1983 novel concerns the reanimation of carrion, if not the soul, and the discrepancy between corporeality and true life. It’s a sepulchral work, more ontological than most of King’s fiction, and a depiction of life and death at its simplest, its most existential.Louis Creed is a doctor who has just moved his family from Chicago to central Maine so he can spend more time with his family. His is a logical, scientific mind, while his wife, whose sister died of spinal meningitis when they were children, has a deep-seated fear of death and clings to vestigial notions of a happy afterlife. Louis befriends their elderly neighbor, Jud Crandall, who regales him with stories of halcyon days and becomes something of a surrogate father for Louis. When the Creeds’ cat,...

This article will contain spoilers for the film.

Ever since directing the original Saw back in 2004, James Wan’s career has only continued to skyrocket. Say what you will about the franchise that his debut spawned, but the original film – in all its low budget simplicity – was the work of someone with potential and, better yet, the talent to see that potential through. In the years since, his name has become synonymous with modern horror, spinning two further franchises into gold with Insidious and The Conjuring, and while he’s also helped guide Furious 7 through its troubled production and is helming next year’s Aquaman, fans of Wan will always look forward to seeing him return to his horror roots.

But while the director has seen success after success over the years, there’s one year in particular that always seems to get overlooked: 2007. It was then that Wan...

A Malaysian-born, Australian film director, James Wan is most known for his impact on the horror genre since debuting his short film Saw in 2003. Honing his unique style from a young age, the director won Best Guerilla Film at the Melbourne Underground Film Festival for his first film Stygian, before breaking fresh ground with the gore-filled Saw. Wan then became known as the dominating force in quality horror films with the likes of critically-acclaimed and box office hits Insidious and The Conjuring the latter of which remains the highest grossing original horror movie of all time, second only to The Exorcist...

Karl Siemon is a Dp you've almost heard of thanks to a "little" movie called Saw, but if you're a serious cult film fan, you should know him well thanks to an Aussie horror film entitled Razor Eaters (2003).

Now Siemon is handling the cinematography for actor/director Leslie Simpson's first-time outing, Grandpa, and the results are chilling. Dread Central recently had the opportunity to do an email interview with the in-demand Dp while he was shooting a film in Sydney, Australia, and the results are both fascinating and funny.

Dread Central: Hello, Karl. and thank you for taking time to chat with us about Leslie Simpson's short film Grandpa. First off, would you mind telling us a bit about yourself? Your background, where you received your film training, etc.?

Karl Siemon: Cinematography is everything I love about the arts put together: writing, painting, light, color, drama, music.

The name James Wan may not bear a strong recognition with more casual moviegoers, but he’s slowly rising up and making his mark over the horror genre. 2013 in particular has been a trailblazing year across all avenues as he has released two movies and has been handed the keys to the Fast and Furious franchise. It’ll be interesting to see how that genre shift works out for his career but for now, let’s take a retrospective look at the Australian auteur’s already impressive catalog of films.

It almost seems as if anything James Wan touches winds up with the potential to be the next big yearly franchise, and in some cases it has (trust me, we’ll get to this in the article). Critical reception may often be mixed but financially James and frequent writer collaborator Leigh Whannell are essentially a lock for success.

Note: This ranking does not include Stygian,...

Saw Week: Saw VI - In theatres October 23, 2009

From the Fangoria Archives, Originally Published 10/28/2004

There’s one really great plot twist in Saw, and I’m not even gonna mention when in the movie it arrives ’cause I don’t want to give anything away. I will say that if you know your character actors, don’t examine the film’s cast list too closely before you see the movie, and I’ll also say that it’s the kind of moment that has the effect of making the overall feature seem somewhat better than it is.

Considering that quite a bit of the ad campaign is centered on severed bodily extremities, it’s only appropriate that the movie isn’t quite equal to the sum of its best parts. As the directorial debut of James Wan (well, not really; he previously co-helmed and co-wrote the Aussie indie minichiller Stygian,...