Sunday, August 14, 2011

Upcoming Release: Twixt (2011)

Elle Fanning and Val Kilmer
An original (way to go, Hollywood!) gothic horror film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola! I'm already lined up for opening night.

A friend of mine showed me the Twixt trailer early last week -- and it had me intrigued right away. It's not so much a trailer (it's nearly four minutes long) as a sneak peek. It's focuses on a series of bizarre child murders in a small town -- and throws in suggestions of witches and/or vampires as the culprits.

Val Kilmer plays a Stephen King-ish horror novelist who has arrived in town for an autograph signing when he's lured into the murder mysteries by both the local sheriff (Bruce Dern) and a ghostly girl named V (Elle Fanning) who keeps appearing in his dreams. On top of it all, actor Ben Chaplin is listed as playing the role of Edgar Allan Poe. How could you not be intrigued? It all sounds very Stephen King meets Twin Peaks!

Val Kilmer and Ben Chaplin ...as Edgar Allan Poe.
It could be a really interesting departure for Coppola -- no gangsters or rebellious teens in sight. Most of his recent film dealings have been as a producer over the years, so it was about time he got back behind the camera.

My only concern is the reminder of his 1992 foray into supernatural horror -- Bram Stoker's Dracula, with Gary Oldman in the leading role. Although that interpretation of the classic vampire novel has its loyal fans, I could barely sit through it in one sitting. But that was all nearly 20 years ago now and Twixt looks like it has a lot of potential to be a perfectly bizarre and grisly film. I haven't come across an official release date (some websites have different dates than others), but it is listed as being a 2011 film, so it's likely it will be released around Halloween.

I love a good horror film as much as anyone, but so few great ones have come out over the last few years. I have high hopes for Twixt.

What do you think of the sneak peek trailer? 


7 comments:

  1. hey Laura, I noticed you havent posted anything on the blog group yet and you have not accepted the invite. Please check your inbox

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  2. I'm anxious to see it. I like Coppola and I hear he's going to create special screenings for the film where he and Dan Deacon will create a live experience for the film.

    I'll give him credit for at least try to make the film-going experience more fun.

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  3. OK, so you just compared this whole thing to Twin Peaks, which happens to be my favourite TV show of all time (at this point anyways).

    I'm officially intrigued.

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  4. Pulling two almost has beens out out of the hat aren't they with Kilmer and Dern?! This does look intriguing though.

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  5. @theVoid: Really? I hadn't heard about that!!! I'll need to look that up.

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  6. @Alex: I watched Twin Peaks for the first time a few months back. I wish David Lynch made another TV show.

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  7. @Brent: This could be a comeback for both of them, especially Kilmer, if it actually does turn out to be as good as it looks!

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