Exclusive: Sony has preemptively closed a deal for film rights to Grady Hendrix’s short story “Ankle Snatcher,” tapping Hendrix to adapt it for the screen, sources tell Deadline. Hendrix is also set to produce alongside Escape Artists’ Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Tony Shaw, as well as Aperture Entertainment’s Adam Goldworm.
The first short story Hendrix has taken to market, after setting up numerous novels and original screenplays for adaptation, “Ankle Snatcher” was released in September 2023 as part of Amazon Original Stories’ Creature Feature collection comprised of six original stories written by New York Times bestselling authors, the others being Joe Hill, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Jason Mott, and Chandler Baker.
Hendrix’s story follows Marcus, who grew up believing his father killed his mother — then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you.
The first short story Hendrix has taken to market, after setting up numerous novels and original screenplays for adaptation, “Ankle Snatcher” was released in September 2023 as part of Amazon Original Stories’ Creature Feature collection comprised of six original stories written by New York Times bestselling authors, the others being Joe Hill, Josh Malerman, Paul Tremblay, Jason Mott, and Chandler Baker.
Hendrix’s story follows Marcus, who grew up believing his father killed his mother — then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you.
- 3/8/2024
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
James Ashcroft will direct the feature film adaptation of “Old Haunts.” The “Coming Home In the Dark” filmmaker was tapped for the gig by Awa Studios, the film and television division of Artists, Writers & Artisans (Awa), which published the popular graphic novel that is inspiring the movie.
Ashcroft will direct the “Old Haunts” adaptation from a script by in-demand scribe Aaron Rabin, who is hot off of the newly launched Marvel series, “Secret Invasion.” Zach Studin, president of Awa Studios, will produce the movie.
Since the world premiere of “Coming Home In The Dark” at Sundance, where the psychological thriller made a stir, Ashcroft has become an in-demand filmmaker, lining up projects with Agbo, Legendary and Netflix.
“James Ashcroft is a cinematic force, with an incredible vision for this explosive story that collides the genres of crime and horror,” Studin said. “His ability to capture heart-wrenching performances, while delivering gripping tension,...
Ashcroft will direct the “Old Haunts” adaptation from a script by in-demand scribe Aaron Rabin, who is hot off of the newly launched Marvel series, “Secret Invasion.” Zach Studin, president of Awa Studios, will produce the movie.
Since the world premiere of “Coming Home In The Dark” at Sundance, where the psychological thriller made a stir, Ashcroft has become an in-demand filmmaker, lining up projects with Agbo, Legendary and Netflix.
“James Ashcroft is a cinematic force, with an incredible vision for this explosive story that collides the genres of crime and horror,” Studin said. “His ability to capture heart-wrenching performances, while delivering gripping tension,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The 2023 Cannes market runs May 16-24.
Screen is rounding up the key packages launched before and during the 2023 Cannes market (which runs May 16-24).
Refresh the page for latest updates.
May 16 ’The Salt Path’
The feature debut of acclaimed theatre director Marianne Elliott stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs portraying the real-life couple who trekked 630 miles of UK coastline after being kicked out of their home. Black Bear are distributing in the UK.
World sales: Rocket Science
’The Rule Of Jenny Pen’
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in James Ashcroft’s thriller as a conceited judging and a psychopath...
Screen is rounding up the key packages launched before and during the 2023 Cannes market (which runs May 16-24).
Refresh the page for latest updates.
May 16 ’The Salt Path’
The feature debut of acclaimed theatre director Marianne Elliott stars Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs portraying the real-life couple who trekked 630 miles of UK coastline after being kicked out of their home. Black Bear are distributing in the UK.
World sales: Rocket Science
’The Rule Of Jenny Pen’
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow star in James Ashcroft’s thriller as a conceited judging and a psychopath...
- 5/16/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
It is New Zealand-based Māori filmmaker James Ashcroft’s second feature following his debut.
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow are set to star in James Ashcroft’s thriller The Rule Of Jenny Pen, based on the short story by New Zealand author Owen Marshall, that will shoot later this year. Charades is handling international sales and CAA Media Finance domestic rights.
Set within the confines of a aged care facility, Rush stars as a conceited judge who suffers a near fatal stroke that sees him placed in convalescence where he refuses to cooperate with the facility’s staff or communicate with his roommate.
Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow are set to star in James Ashcroft’s thriller The Rule Of Jenny Pen, based on the short story by New Zealand author Owen Marshall, that will shoot later this year. Charades is handling international sales and CAA Media Finance domestic rights.
Set within the confines of a aged care facility, Rush stars as a conceited judge who suffers a near fatal stroke that sees him placed in convalescence where he refuses to cooperate with the facility’s staff or communicate with his roommate.
- 5/16/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Legendary Entertainment and Sam Raimi‘s Ghost House Pictures are teaming up to bring an adaptation of My Best Friend’s Exorcism author Grady Hendrix’s best-selling horror novel How to Sell a Haunted House to the screen, Variety reports. Hendrix is writing the screenplay adaptation himself, and James Ashcroft – who made his feature directorial debut with the 2021 horror film Coming Home in the Dark – is on board to direct.
Hendrix’s novel (pick up a copy Here) has the following description: When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to...
Hendrix’s novel (pick up a copy Here) has the following description: When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to...
- 4/27/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Best-selling horror author Grady Hendrix’s latest novel, How to Sell a Haunted House, was released earlier this year, and an adaptation is already on the way.
Legendary Entertainment won movie rights, per Variety, and tapped Coming Home in the Dark filmmaker James Ashcroft to helm the adaptation.
If that’s not intriguing enough, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures will produce the film with Hendrix (My Best Friend’s Exorcism) and Adam Goldworm’s Aperture Entertainment. Romel Adam and Jose Cañas will oversee for Ghost House.
Hendrix will adapt his own novel for the screen.
Fans of Hendrix’s novel know this is no ordinary haunted house.
The novel’s official synopsis: “When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home,...
Legendary Entertainment won movie rights, per Variety, and tapped Coming Home in the Dark filmmaker James Ashcroft to helm the adaptation.
If that’s not intriguing enough, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures will produce the film with Hendrix (My Best Friend’s Exorcism) and Adam Goldworm’s Aperture Entertainment. Romel Adam and Jose Cañas will oversee for Ghost House.
Hendrix will adapt his own novel for the screen.
Fans of Hendrix’s novel know this is no ordinary haunted house.
The novel’s official synopsis: “When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. She doesn’t want to deal with her family home,...
- 4/26/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Legendary Entertainment has won the movie rights to Grady Hendrix’s runaway bestseller “How to Sell a Haunted House.”
The studio behind “Dune” took the novel over several bids. The book received critical acclaim and an instant following thanks to its dynamic storytelling — pulling off genuine fright with its evil puppet antagonist, and a deeply emotional story about the horrors of family.
New Zealand-based Māori filmmaker James Ashcroft is attached to direct the project. Ashcroft made his mark in the indie genre space with the bleak “Coming Home in the Dark,” which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was later acquired by Netflix. Hendrix will adapt his own novel for the screen.
“Hendrix has created a wholly original creature in Pupkin, one as iconic as Chuckie or Pennywise,” wrote The New York Times in its January review. “Pupkin represents the losses of growing up. He’s the vehicle of an unfulfilled mother’s pain,...
The studio behind “Dune” took the novel over several bids. The book received critical acclaim and an instant following thanks to its dynamic storytelling — pulling off genuine fright with its evil puppet antagonist, and a deeply emotional story about the horrors of family.
New Zealand-based Māori filmmaker James Ashcroft is attached to direct the project. Ashcroft made his mark in the indie genre space with the bleak “Coming Home in the Dark,” which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival and was later acquired by Netflix. Hendrix will adapt his own novel for the screen.
“Hendrix has created a wholly original creature in Pupkin, one as iconic as Chuckie or Pennywise,” wrote The New York Times in its January review. “Pupkin represents the losses of growing up. He’s the vehicle of an unfulfilled mother’s pain,...
- 4/26/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
In his latest interview/podcast, host and screenwriter Stuart Wright talks with actor/writer/director James Ashcroft about his feature-length directorial debut Coming Home in the Dark.
This New Zealand set neo-noir starts with a seemingly brutal, mindless crime, but evolves into a revenge tale you won’t see coming. Harrowing at times, it is also poignant and sad in the way that it draws on a horrendous and shameful chapter from New Zealand’s care services recent past to tell a complex and nuanced story in the present.
Coming Home in the Dark is available to watch on Netflix now. Check out our review right here.
Powered by RedCircle...
This New Zealand set neo-noir starts with a seemingly brutal, mindless crime, but evolves into a revenge tale you won’t see coming. Harrowing at times, it is also poignant and sad in the way that it draws on a horrendous and shameful chapter from New Zealand’s care services recent past to tell a complex and nuanced story in the present.
Coming Home in the Dark is available to watch on Netflix now. Check out our review right here.
Powered by RedCircle...
- 3/15/2022
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
Coming Home In The Dark Review — Coming Home In The Dark (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by James Ashcroft and starring Daniel Gillies, Erik Thomson, Miriama McDowell, Matthias Luafutu, Billy Paratene, Frankie Paratene, Desray Armstrong, Alan Palmer, Ike Hamon, Sam Carter, Bailey Cowan, Timon Zeiss, Tioti O’Donnell and Kaira O’Donnell. New Zealand director [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Coming Home In The Dark (2021): Grim And Violent Film Is Well Acted But Occasionally Redundant...
Continue reading: Film Review: Coming Home In The Dark (2021): Grim And Violent Film Is Well Acted But Occasionally Redundant...
- 10/10/2021
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
Stars: Daniel Gillies, Matthias Luafatu, Miriama McDowell, Erik Thomson, Billy Paratene, Frankie Paratene, Alan Palmer | Written by James Ashcroft, Eli Kent | Directed by James Ashcroft
From Black Sheep to Deathgasm to Housebound, New Zealand has a pretty good relationship with horror, even if it leans towards the comedy side sometimes (this is no bad thing of course!) but Coming Home In The Dark is anything but a comedy movie.
It doesn’t take long to realise this either as the opening scenes show two guys come across a family in the beautiful but scarcely populated New Zealand wilderness. These two guys aren’t very nice people and are soon taking the family on a terrifying road trip.
Coming Home In The Dark is brutally violent but you’ll never numb to this violence. It isn’t plastered across every minute of the movie, there’s meaning, thought and reasoning behind each and every hit.
From Black Sheep to Deathgasm to Housebound, New Zealand has a pretty good relationship with horror, even if it leans towards the comedy side sometimes (this is no bad thing of course!) but Coming Home In The Dark is anything but a comedy movie.
It doesn’t take long to realise this either as the opening scenes show two guys come across a family in the beautiful but scarcely populated New Zealand wilderness. These two guys aren’t very nice people and are soon taking the family on a terrifying road trip.
Coming Home In The Dark is brutally violent but you’ll never numb to this violence. It isn’t plastered across every minute of the movie, there’s meaning, thought and reasoning behind each and every hit.
- 9/13/2021
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
New Trailer Available For Sundance Shocker Coming Home In The Dark – In Theaters And VOD October 1st
Coming Home In The Dark Directed by James Ashcroft Written by Eli Kent and James Ashcroft Starring Daniel Gillies, Erik Thomson, Miriama McDowell, Matthias Luafutu Dark Sky Films Will Release Coming Home In The Dark In Select Theaters and VOD On October 1st **Sundance Film Festival 2021 – Official Selection** “As an exploration of the …
The post New Trailer Available For Sundance Shocker Coming Home In The Dark – In Theaters And VOD October 1st appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
The post New Trailer Available For Sundance Shocker Coming Home In The Dark – In Theaters And VOD October 1st appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
- 8/22/2021
- by Adrian Halen
- Horror News
Perhaps the most surprising thing of Coming Home in the Dark is seeing Daniel Gillies with a Kiwi accent and appearing to pull it off. Not as surprising is that he appears to be playing a bad guy with some nuance; something the actor has done very effectively for much of his career.
James Ashcroft's feature film debut, which he co-wrote with Eli Kent, stars Erik Thomson and Miriama McDowell as Hoagie and Jill respectively. The couple is on an idyllic outing at an isolated coastline with their sons when they are taken hostage by a pair of drifters, Mandrake and Tubs (played by Gillies and Matthias Luafutu).
While at first Hoagie and Jill assume the encounter was random, it soon becomes clear that Mandrake and Hoagie have history and the encounter was not accidental.
::...
James Ashcroft's feature film debut, which he co-wrote with Eli Kent, stars Erik Thomson and Miriama McDowell as Hoagie and Jill respectively. The couple is on an idyllic outing at an isolated coastline with their sons when they are taken hostage by a pair of drifters, Mandrake and Tubs (played by Gillies and Matthias Luafutu).
While at first Hoagie and Jill assume the encounter was random, it soon becomes clear that Mandrake and Hoagie have history and the encounter was not accidental.
::...
- 8/10/2021
- QuietEarth.us
Coming Home in the Dark, a low-budget New Zealand horror thriller that debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, is one of the most suspenseful films I’ve seen in years. It’s the feature directorial debut of James Ashcroft, and it’s one of those debuts that is so assured that it practically forces you to take […]
The post ‘Coming Home in the Dark’ Trailer: Intense Sundance Thriller Comes Out This Fall appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Coming Home in the Dark’ Trailer: Intense Sundance Thriller Comes Out This Fall appeared first on /Film.
- 8/5/2021
- by Ben Pearson
- Slash Film
“As an exploration of the ways in which childhood damage can manifest asunfettered evil in adults, Coming Home In The Dark is a rivetingly nasty rideand an assured debut from a promising new director.”– David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter
Dark Sky Films Will Release Coming Home In The Dark Directed by James Ashcroft, In Select Theaters and VOD On October 1st. Check out the scary trailer:
A family’s idyllic outing at an isolated coastline descends into terror when high school teacher Alan ‘Hoaggie’ Hoaganraad, his wife Jill, and stepsons Maika and Jordon unexpectedly come across a pair of murderous drifters – the enigmatic psychopath Mandrake and his hulking man-child accomplice Tubs – who thrust them into a nightmare road trip. At first, the family’s terror seems to be born of a random encounter with two sociopaths, but as the night drags on, Hoaggie and Jill realize that this nightmare...
Dark Sky Films Will Release Coming Home In The Dark Directed by James Ashcroft, In Select Theaters and VOD On October 1st. Check out the scary trailer:
A family’s idyllic outing at an isolated coastline descends into terror when high school teacher Alan ‘Hoaggie’ Hoaganraad, his wife Jill, and stepsons Maika and Jordon unexpectedly come across a pair of murderous drifters – the enigmatic psychopath Mandrake and his hulking man-child accomplice Tubs – who thrust them into a nightmare road trip. At first, the family’s terror seems to be born of a random encounter with two sociopaths, but as the night drags on, Hoaggie and Jill realize that this nightmare...
- 8/5/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Quebec’s Fantasia Festival has unveiled the third and final wave of titles set to screen at this year’s 25th edition and announced that Takashi Miike’s latest feature “The Great Yokai War – Guardians,” will close the festival. The world premiere of Julien Knafo’s Quebec zombie flic “Brain Freeze” will open the festival following an Aug. 4 pre-fest screening of James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad.”
“The Great Yokai War- Guardians” is the follow-up to Fantasia 2006 opener “The Great Yoki War,” and unspools in a fantasy world of Japanese demons, kaiju and pop culture references which proved a hit in Montreal the first time around.
Other key titles featured in the third wave lineup include Lee Won-tae’s “The Devil’s Deal,” his first film since “The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” won Sitges’ best film award in 2019. BAFTA-winner Paul Andrew Williams’ (“Murdered for Being Different”) “Bull,” a revenge thriller,...
“The Great Yokai War- Guardians” is the follow-up to Fantasia 2006 opener “The Great Yoki War,” and unspools in a fantasy world of Japanese demons, kaiju and pop culture references which proved a hit in Montreal the first time around.
Other key titles featured in the third wave lineup include Lee Won-tae’s “The Devil’s Deal,” his first film since “The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil” won Sitges’ best film award in 2019. BAFTA-winner Paul Andrew Williams’ (“Murdered for Being Different”) “Bull,” a revenge thriller,...
- 7/21/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Coming Home in the Dark Trailer — James Ashcroft‘s Coming Home in the Dark (2021) movie trailer has been released. The Coming Home in the Dark trailer stars Daniel Gillies, Erik Thomson, Miriama McDowell, Desray Armstrong, and Matthias Luafutu. Crew James Ashcroft and Eli Kent wrote the screenplay for Coming Home in the Dark. Matt Henley [...]
Continue reading: Coming Home In The Dark (2021) Movie Trailer: A Family is Kidnapped on Vacation in James Ashcroft’s Thriller Film...
Continue reading: Coming Home In The Dark (2021) Movie Trailer: A Family is Kidnapped on Vacation in James Ashcroft’s Thriller Film...
- 7/20/2021
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Last year, Legendary Entertainment picked up the rights to Max Brooks‘ new book Devolution, an exploration of the Bigfoot myth framed in a series of journals written by a woman who was trying to survive in a tech-focused, “green” community that is suddenly left isolated from the modern world by a natural disaster. Things take […]
The post Bigfoot Thriller ‘Devolution’ Brings in ‘Coming Home in the Dark’ Director James Ashcroft appeared first on /Film.
The post Bigfoot Thriller ‘Devolution’ Brings in ‘Coming Home in the Dark’ Director James Ashcroft appeared first on /Film.
- 6/25/2021
- by Ethan Anderton
- Slash Film
James Ashcroft, the Māori Kiwi actor-turned-director who made a splash with horror flick Coming Home in the Dark, has signed on to direct Devolution, Legendary’s adaptation of the Bigfoot horror novel written by World War Z author Max Brooks.
Ashcroft will also polish the script with his writing partner Eli Kent.
With Devolution, Legendary is hoping to make horror piece that has something to say about the state of humanity when the veneer of civility is stripped away and nature takes over.
The story sees a tech-focused, “green” community in the deep forests of Washington State that is left isolated by a natural disaster. The social ...
Ashcroft will also polish the script with his writing partner Eli Kent.
With Devolution, Legendary is hoping to make horror piece that has something to say about the state of humanity when the veneer of civility is stripped away and nature takes over.
The story sees a tech-focused, “green” community in the deep forests of Washington State that is left isolated by a natural disaster. The social ...
- 6/25/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
James Ashcroft, the Māori Kiwi actor-turned-director who made a splash with horror flick Coming Home in the Dark, has signed on to direct Devolution, Legendary’s adaptation of the Bigfoot horror novel written by World War Z author Max Brooks.
Ashcroft will also polish the script with his writing partner Eli Kent.
With Devolution, Legendary is hoping to make horror piece that has something to say about the state of humanity when the veneer of civility is stripped away and nature takes over.
The story sees a tech-focused, “green” community in the deep forests of Washington State that is left isolated by a natural disaster. The social ...
Ashcroft will also polish the script with his writing partner Eli Kent.
With Devolution, Legendary is hoping to make horror piece that has something to say about the state of humanity when the veneer of civility is stripped away and nature takes over.
The story sees a tech-focused, “green” community in the deep forests of Washington State that is left isolated by a natural disaster. The social ...
- 6/25/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ben Wheatley’s ‘In The Earth’ is playing in the main competition of the Swiss festival.
UK director Ben Wheatley’s in The Earth is among the competition contenders in this year’s 20th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival which will take place as a hybrid edition from July 2-10 in Switzerland.
It is taking place under the interim directorship of Loïc Valceschini before a new head, Pierre-Yves Walder, takes up the reins in July.
The event includes 55 films, eight short films, eight immersive installations and two TV productions. Among the special guests will be legendary VFX artist Volker Engel,...
UK director Ben Wheatley’s in The Earth is among the competition contenders in this year’s 20th Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival which will take place as a hybrid edition from July 2-10 in Switzerland.
It is taking place under the interim directorship of Loïc Valceschini before a new head, Pierre-Yves Walder, takes up the reins in July.
The event includes 55 films, eight short films, eight immersive installations and two TV productions. Among the special guests will be legendary VFX artist Volker Engel,...
- 6/17/2021
- ScreenDaily
Germany, Spain, Scandinavia among buyers.
MPI International has struck key territory sales at EFM on the highly regarded New Zealand Sundance thriller Coming Home In The Dark.
James Ashcroft’s debut feature premiered in Midnight and centres on a schoolteacher who must confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of drifters force him and his family on a terrifying road trip. Daniel Gillies stars.
Deals have closed in Germany (Capelight), Scandinavia (Njuta), Spain (A Contracorriente), France (Swift), and the Middle East (Phoenicia).
Monster Pictures will distribute Coming Home In The Dark in Australia and New Zealand and...
MPI International has struck key territory sales at EFM on the highly regarded New Zealand Sundance thriller Coming Home In The Dark.
James Ashcroft’s debut feature premiered in Midnight and centres on a schoolteacher who must confront a brutal act from his past when a pair of drifters force him and his family on a terrifying road trip. Daniel Gillies stars.
Deals have closed in Germany (Capelight), Scandinavia (Njuta), Spain (A Contracorriente), France (Swift), and the Middle East (Phoenicia).
Monster Pictures will distribute Coming Home In The Dark in Australia and New Zealand and...
- 3/4/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Here’s a look at three more genre-related projects that recently played during the 2021 Sundance Film Festival: The Blazing World from Carlson Young, the end-of-the-world comedy How It Ends, and James Ashcroft’s Coming Home in the Dark.
The Blazing World: For her feature film debut, Carlson Young (who many genre fans will remember from her days on Scream: The TV Series) takes us on a nightmarish descent into the fragile and fractured psyche of a young woman named Margaret (also played by Young), who has been living with the trauma and grief caused by the accidental death of her twin sister decades prior. As she contemplates committing suicide, Margaret finds herself transported into an alternate world where she is tasked with retrieving a series of keys by a mysterious man called Lained (Udo Kier), who sends her on a journey that will force her to confront her demons...
The Blazing World: For her feature film debut, Carlson Young (who many genre fans will remember from her days on Scream: The TV Series) takes us on a nightmarish descent into the fragile and fractured psyche of a young woman named Margaret (also played by Young), who has been living with the trauma and grief caused by the accidental death of her twin sister decades prior. As she contemplates committing suicide, Margaret finds herself transported into an alternate world where she is tasked with retrieving a series of keys by a mysterious man called Lained (Udo Kier), who sends her on a journey that will force her to confront her demons...
- 2/13/2021
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The New Zealand film Coming Home in the Dark, James Ashcroft's first feature, starts off intensely: a well-off family enjoy a road trip in the countryside. During a picnic, they are interrupted by a couple of strangers with weapons and a peculiar attitude. The confusion doesn’t take long to clear up, although the fear continues: they are being assaulted. Their vehicle and some belongings are the criminals’ main target. The leader of the thugs, Mandrake –who unlike his silent partner, Tubs (Matthias Luafutu), is outspoken and radiates some charisma despite being a bastard– announces that they’ll retire. The horror seems to end for the family... until one of the sons refers to his father (Erik Thomson)...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 2/9/2021
- Screen Anarchy
The enormity of nature hits you like a freight train in the early scenes of James Ashcroft’s taut and sinewy first feature, Coming Home in the Dark. The majestic rural landscape of Greater Wellington, on the southernmost tip of New Zealand’s north island, changes in an instant from a place of enveloping tranquility to one of terrifying, helpless isolation as a family’s encounter with a pair of murderous drifters uncovers past trauma. What starts out as a nerve-rattling portrait of chance violence becomes a dark meditation on the long-term reverberations of childhood abuse in state institutions.
Adapted by ...
Adapted by ...
The enormity of nature hits you like a freight train in the early scenes of James Ashcroft’s taut and sinewy first feature, Coming Home in the Dark. The majestic rural landscape of Greater Wellington, on the southernmost tip of New Zealand’s north island, changes in an instant from a place of enveloping tranquility to one of terrifying, helpless isolation as a family’s encounter with a pair of murderous drifters uncovers past trauma. What starts out as a nerve-rattling portrait of chance violence becomes a dark meditation on the long-term reverberations of childhood abuse in state institutions.
Adapted by ...
Adapted by ...
An expensive new car slouches on the side of a deserted country road, unoccupied and unattended, while one passenger door hangs open, creaking disconsolately in the afternoon breeze. It’s the kind of opening image that immediately warns you the film to come is up to nothing good, or at least nothing pleasant: “Coming Home in the Dark” never tells us who was behind the wheel of that abandoned car, though it gives us enough indirect detail to paint a pretty vivid, stomach-turning picture of what went down. At first glance, New Zealand filmmaker James Ashcroft’s unforgiving, tightly wound debut appears to be a nihilistic horror excursion in the blood-leaking vein of “Wolf Creek,” before its torture-porn trappings give way to a moral weight as unanticipated by the characters as it is by the audience.
Though it’s plenty nasty and nervy enough to earn its spot in Sundance’s Midnight program,...
Though it’s plenty nasty and nervy enough to earn its spot in Sundance’s Midnight program,...
- 2/5/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
In rural New Zealand, Hoaggie (Erik Thomson) rides in the passenger seat. His wife, Jill (Miriama McDowell), is driving and their sons Maika (Billy Paratene) and Jordan (Frankie Paratene) are in the back. It’s the middle of nowhere in New Zealand: scenic, sure, but totally isolated. It’s a good place for a family picnic too, and it fits the bill for a few minutes. That’s when a greasy dude named Mandrake (Daniel Gillies) and his mute lackey, Tubs (Matthias Luafutu), show up. Mandrake seems to know that Hoaggie is a teacher, and he seems a little too laid back as he attacks the family with pure, unhinged sadism. The fact that he goes on to take the family for an all-night joyride from hell is just a way to salt the wounds.
For a while, Coming Home in the Dark works because it doesn’t just lean into the brutality.
For a while, Coming Home in the Dark works because it doesn’t just lean into the brutality.
- 1/31/2021
- by Matt Cipolla
- The Film Stage
A one and a half-hour gut-punch, Coming Home in the Dark is bleak, tense, and often unshakable. It sticks with you; haunts you. Leaves you feeling restless. Anxiety-inducing and frequently unpleasant, it travels down dark roads, and while you can likely guess the destination, getting there is no less unnerving. In James Ashcroft‘s film, a family […]
The post ‘Coming Home in the Dark’ Review: An Unbearably Tense Thriller That Sticks With You [Sundance 2021] appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Coming Home in the Dark’ Review: An Unbearably Tense Thriller That Sticks With You [Sundance 2021] appeared first on /Film.
- 1/31/2021
- by Chris Evangelista
- Slash Film
In his new horror film “Coming Home in the Dark,” premiering at Sundance on Saturday, star Daniel Gillies had to go to a dark place to embody the role of Mandrake, a psychopathic killer who abducts two unsuspecting hikers. And his director says he was more than up for the challenge.
“He was willing to put everything on the line, and he was open to exploration and trying new things and getting back on the horse again and again and again,” director James Ashcroft said at TheWrap’s Virtual Sundance Studio. “That’s what I want as a director, is to work with an actor who’s willing to be risky and try and give them as wide a space to swing as possible, or as confined a space, being in a car.”
Much of the action of “Coming Home in the Dark” literally involves Gillies’ character driving his two...
“He was willing to put everything on the line, and he was open to exploration and trying new things and getting back on the horse again and again and again,” director James Ashcroft said at TheWrap’s Virtual Sundance Studio. “That’s what I want as a director, is to work with an actor who’s willing to be risky and try and give them as wide a space to swing as possible, or as confined a space, being in a car.”
Much of the action of “Coming Home in the Dark” literally involves Gillies’ character driving his two...
- 1/30/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
IndieWire reached out to the cinematographers behind the scripted narrative features premiering this week at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to find out which cameras, lenses, and formats they used, and why they chose them to create the looks and meet the production demands of their films. Here are their responses.
Films appear in alphabetical order by title.
“Censor”
Section: Midnight
Dir: Prano Bailey-Bond, DoP: Annika Summerson
Format: 35mm Kodak 5219 and 5207, Sony 4K X-ocn
Camera: Arricam Lt& St, Sony Venice
Lens: Canon K-35
Summerson: I shot a short film with “Censor” director Prano Bailey-Bond called “Nasty” on s16mm years ago which was the calling card for this feature so we already had it in our minds to shoot on film, 35mm if possible. Both because we love the organic look and the texture of film, and also because it’s set in the 1980’s and pays homage to the video nasties of the time.
Films appear in alphabetical order by title.
“Censor”
Section: Midnight
Dir: Prano Bailey-Bond, DoP: Annika Summerson
Format: 35mm Kodak 5219 and 5207, Sony 4K X-ocn
Camera: Arricam Lt& St, Sony Venice
Lens: Canon K-35
Summerson: I shot a short film with “Censor” director Prano Bailey-Bond called “Nasty” on s16mm years ago which was the calling card for this feature so we already had it in our minds to shoot on film, 35mm if possible. Both because we love the organic look and the texture of film, and also because it’s set in the 1980’s and pays homage to the video nasties of the time.
- 1/29/2021
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
All-night bidding wars are as much a staple of the Sundance Film Festival as snow drifts and thin air. The mountaintop gathering highlights the best of indie film and shines a light on the next generation of Tarantinos and Soderberghs. This year looks different. Sundance will go virtual in 2021 due to Covid-19. But that doesn’t mean that studio executives and agents aren’t going to be working the phones just as furiously. Here’s a look at films that have the goods to inspire streaming services and indies to go toe-to-toe in the hopes of landing the next “Palm Springs” or “Promising Young Woman.”
Coda
Director: Sian Heder
Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur
Sales agent: CAA/ICM
Buzz: This drama about a girl who is the only hearing person in her deaf family is said to be emotionally stirring and commercial, two things that should resonate with potential buyers.
Coda
Director: Sian Heder
Cast: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur
Sales agent: CAA/ICM
Buzz: This drama about a girl who is the only hearing person in her deaf family is said to be emotionally stirring and commercial, two things that should resonate with potential buyers.
- 1/28/2021
- by Brent Lang, Rebecca Rubin and Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Starting today, the 2021 Sundance Film Festival gives us a first glimpse at the year in cinema, and this year it’s available to a wider audience than ever before in virtual form. With many tickets still available, we’re now providing our yearly trailer round-up for those interested in a preview of the lineup.
Ahead of our coverage, bookmark this page for a continually-updated round-up of trailers and clips, kicking off with Taming the Garden, A Glitch in the Matrix, Land, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, Life in a Day 2020, and more.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be published reviews soon, so follow along here.
Coming Home in the Dark (James Ashcroft)
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet (Ana Katz)
Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
A Glitch in the Matrix (Rodney Ascher)
In the Same Breath (Nanfu Wang...
Ahead of our coverage, bookmark this page for a continually-updated round-up of trailers and clips, kicking off with Taming the Garden, A Glitch in the Matrix, Land, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World, Life in a Day 2020, and more.
Check out the trailers (and clips) below thus far in alphabetical order and we’ll be published reviews soon, so follow along here.
Coming Home in the Dark (James Ashcroft)
The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet (Ana Katz)
Flee (Jonas Poher Rasmussen)
A Glitch in the Matrix (Rodney Ascher)
In the Same Breath (Nanfu Wang...
- 1/28/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Exclusive: Daniel Gillies, known for his role in The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, has signed with Buchwald for representation.
Gillies joined the CW’s The Vampire Diaries in the second season as Elijah Mikaelson, then went on to reprise the role in all five seasons of spinoff The Originals. He also starred with Katharine McPhee in Lifetime’s original movie The Lost Wife of Robert Durst and in Canadian supernatural medical drama series Saving Hope.
Gillies can currently be seen in the Netflix series Virgin River, which has been renewed for a second season.
On the film side, Gillies will star in the New Zealand-based feature directed and written by James Ashcroft, Coming Home in the Dark, based off the award-winning short story by Owen Marshall. Gillies previous work includes Spider-Man 2, Bride & Prejudice, Captivity and Broken Kingdom.
Gillies is also repped by Link Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson,...
Gillies joined the CW’s The Vampire Diaries in the second season as Elijah Mikaelson, then went on to reprise the role in all five seasons of spinoff The Originals. He also starred with Katharine McPhee in Lifetime’s original movie The Lost Wife of Robert Durst and in Canadian supernatural medical drama series Saving Hope.
Gillies can currently be seen in the Netflix series Virgin River, which has been renewed for a second season.
On the film side, Gillies will star in the New Zealand-based feature directed and written by James Ashcroft, Coming Home in the Dark, based off the award-winning short story by Owen Marshall. Gillies previous work includes Spider-Man 2, Bride & Prejudice, Captivity and Broken Kingdom.
Gillies is also repped by Link Entertainment and Hansen, Jacobson,...
- 9/1/2020
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The latest horror export from New Zealand is Danny Mulheron's new cannibal comedy horror 'Fresh Meat'. It is set to make its official premiere at this months Tribeca Film Festival on 23 April but you can catch it on VOD a whole week earlier kicking off on the 16 April. And to lead up to its Tribeca debut a new trailer and one-sheet have been released. Mulheron helms from a script co-written by Brad Abraham, Joseph O'Brien and Briar Grace Smith. Temuera Morrison, Nicola Kawana, Hanna Tevita, Kate Elliott, Jack Sergent-Shadbolt, Leand Macadaan, Ralph Hilaga, Kahn West, Will Robertson, James Ashcroft and Richard Knowles all star. Head below for the goods....
- 4/5/2013
- Horror Asylum
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