As George Lucas sadly discovered several years ago, you can’t deliberately create a cult film.
Sure, J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves are doing their best to make Cloverfield (which opens Jan. 18) the cult science fiction hit of ’08, but there is an increasing feeling of desperation about the project as it nears release.
First, Abrams has said he wanted the film to present a monster that will be as loved by Americans as Godzilla is loved by the Japanese (memo to J.J. — we already have one — he’s called “King Kong”), then the production company refuses to show any pictures of the monster, which is never a good sign. Add to that a movie trailer that looks like it was shot with a hand-held video camera (Godzilla meets the Blair Witch Project?) and it really looks like a movie that’s straining far too hard to be hip.
Fortunately, there are several other contenders for THE science fiction cult film of 2008. Here is a brief look at some of them.
The Signal
(scheduled for release Feb. 22)
Synopsis: In the city of Terminus on New Year’s Eve, all communication is seized by a mysterious signal that enhances the desires, fears, and anxieties of everyone that receives the transmission. As the signal provokes insanity and murderous impulses, a man tries to save the woman he loves from her crazed husband, but as he journeys across the city to help her he has to decide which people have been changed by the signal and who he can trust to help — or at least not murder — him.
Cult Sci-Fi Flourish: The movie unfolds in three separate segments by three separate directors — David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry. However, the screenplay was also written by the trio to try and make the different elements of the story blend together well. The first 30 minutes sees the world dissolve into madness and we meet a woman trapped in a loveless marriage. Her husband and his friends are trying to fix the TV as the signal begins and her husband kills a friend and people begin running amok in the streets. In the second segment, the movie becomes a dark comedy (think Shaun Of The Dead) with a couple planning on guests to arrive for a New Year’s Eve party and the crazed husband searching for his wife. The final segment involves the wife and the man who loves her meeting to try to escape the city and find some place in the world that might still be sane.
Preliminary Opinion: How can you NOT love a movie with the tagline Do You Have The Crazy?
Babylon A.D.
(Scheduled for release Aug. 29)
Synopsis: In the not-too-distant future, society has crumbled into warring factions, para-military groups, and cults. In a world choking with poverty and death, Vin Diesel stars is a mercenary hired to bring a young woman (Melanie Thierry) and a nun (Michelle Yeoh) from Russia to China. Diesel has to get the girl and the nun through military-controlled zones, and fight gang wars and religious fanatics to ensure the safety of the women.
Cult Sci-Fi Flourish: The girl is carrying a virus that allows people to create expanded consciousness and change their own DNA. Various fanatics and psychos want to capture the girl, including a band of fanatics who want to use her virus to create a new messiah. The film is based on a novel by Maurice G. Dantec and has been described as a heady mix of punk rock, Philip K. Dick, and Fredrich Nietzche. It is directed by Matthieu Kassovitz who gave us the film Gothika.
Preliminary Opinion: I’d watch anything with Michelle Yeoh but there are a several of problems with this movie. One big drawback is that its release date was moved from Feb. 29 to Aug. 29, amid rumors of location filming problems and budget crisis. It’s also rumored that the U.S. version will be 30 minutes shorter than the European release and key scenes needed for continuity were cut — in other words, it might not make much sense. Also, the words “by the director of Gothika” are pretty scary.
Franklyn
(release date not set, but it is scheduled to be released this year)
Synopsis: In Meanwhile City, a metropolis in a parallel universe, a masked vigilante cop called Jonathan Preest (played by Ryan Phillipe) kidnaps people from cults and works to undermine the government — a theocracy run by a religious group called “The Ministry.” Preest, it seems, is the only atheist in a world of religious zealots. Somehow, all this spills over into the contemporary London in OUR universe. The movie also features Eva Green as a suicidal art student (are there any other kind?); Sam Riley as Milo, a guy looking for the purity of lost love in a world corrupted by religion; and Bernard Hill as a Church Warden arriving in London to find his missing son.
Cult Sci-Fi Flourish: Some of the religious cults in Meanwhile City include (according to director Gerald McMorrow) “The Seventh Day Manicurists” and a washing machine religion whose doctrines and beliefs come from a washing machine instruction manual. Like, The Signal, this movie also has inter-connected storylines — three in London and one in Meanwhile City.
Preliminary Opinion: The movie tagline Reality Hasn’t A Prayer; the masked hero trying to bring down a ruthless government; and a society full of damaged people makes me think of V For Vendetta.
Very much looking forward to the Signal, but I hadn’t heard of the other two. Looks interesting!
Comment by NeverWanderer — January 16, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
None of these films will be them.
Comment by sir jorge — January 16, 2008 @ 5:37 pm
I pop for FRANKLYN. That just sound awesome.
Comment by Dr. Royce Clemens — January 16, 2008 @ 6:52 pm
Any of those will do.
Comment by Jerry — January 16, 2008 @ 6:55 pm
I have THE SIGNAL at home from Magnolia, but have yet to watch it. Sounds fun
Comment by Tony DeFrancisco — January 16, 2008 @ 7:07 pm
I echo earlier comments, Franklyn sounds interesting.
Comment by screech — January 16, 2008 @ 7:56 pm
you’re the only reviewer i’ve heard make a negative comment about cloverfield… so i think you’re out on the limb on that one.
i’m looking forward to the new zombie movie, looked good to me.
what was the cult film of 2008 (in your opinion)
Comment by mo — January 16, 2008 @ 8:15 pm
Babylon A.D.
Any Vinny is good enuf for me…none of his movies are exactly logical. Fortunately I realize that sci fi/action flicks have that problem…having watched/read sci fi for decades.
I hope for Vin’s sake the tickets sell, but the DVD is on my wish list for Xmas this year.
Yay to seeing Vinny back in action!
Thanks for the heads up…I haven’t seen or heard of this before.
JoC
Comment by Jocasta J. — January 16, 2008 @ 10:23 pm
Yeah, Mo — I know people are trying REALLY HARD to love Cloverfield, but I’m still skeptical. I HOPE I’m wrong.
Cult film for 2007?
I think it may be Richard Schenkman’s “The Man From Earth” — I think when it’s released on DVD and gains a wider audience, it will be a cult favorite. The Korean monster movie “The Host” was also great and will probably be “americanized” and remade in Hollywood if Cloverfield is successful.
I also haven’t ruled out “Grindhouse” which seems to gain more fans everytime someone bashes it.
Comment by T.E. Pouncey — January 16, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
Franklyn looks good… thanks for the heads up……
Comment by tubette — January 16, 2008 @ 11:29 pm
Hi Tim :) hmmm… it’s a toss up for me. The Signal or Franklyn?
I got to go with Franklyn :)
Comment by Honey — January 16, 2008 @ 11:53 pm
What a great article Tim!! I agree with your views on each one, especially about The Signal. It’s certainly got the ingredients of a cult film, and it’s very interesting that it has three directors contributing. I’m really looking forward to seeing it. I’ve had such mixed feelings about Cloverfield. The more hype I see about it, the more I keep hoping that it’s anything BUT a Godzilla type monster. Hopefully it will be something truly unexpected, otherwise the overkill on the secrecy of the whole thing will have been completely pointless. I love reading your articles!
Comment by Trish — January 17, 2008 @ 12:04 am
There’s a lot to unpack..
Babylon AD’s concept seems a bit interesting, as well as The Signal’s..
Comment by q — January 17, 2008 @ 12:35 am
This is good considering most of these flicks haven’t come out yet and I really haven’t heard of many at all. It’s hard to know ahead of time which will stink and which will make the top ten.
Great job of letting us know what’s ahead. I remember the sequel to the Blair Witch project stunk so bad, it didn’t last a week.
Comment by Steve Otto — January 17, 2008 @ 12:49 am
I think my favorite of the bunch is also Franklyn…..thanks for the heads up Tim…I always enjoy hearing what you have to say :)
Comment by AngelL — January 17, 2008 @ 12:57 am
Franklyn seems the best in the array.
I completely agree on the Cloverfield assessment and glad that someone had the guts to finally say it. I remember seeing the trailer early last year with friends and we were all excited. However, the trailers since have seemed to be more hype than substance. I, too, hope that the movie does live up to its hype; and, hopefully, it’s not like the Blair Witch Project-style cinematography.
This is a great review T.E. Have you done others?
Comment by hojo — January 17, 2008 @ 1:27 am
Can Vin Diesel really hold his own anymore?
Will Babylon AD do what Pitch Black did to kickstart his career, albeit all over again?
I’m looking forward to Cloverfield. But what with JJ Abrams ‘Uber-career’ and golden touch on everything at the moment can only lead to a major turkey.
And what does the word Cloverfield mean in reference to Monsters?
Comment by Manic_Rage — January 17, 2008 @ 2:40 am
I’m lookin forward to Franklyn and Cloverfield. This was a great read and thanks for the article.
Comment by Celina Hernandez — January 17, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
PERFECT! Babylon A.D. sounds great however I couldn’t get by one thing, even before I read it. “Also, the words “by the director of Gothika†are pretty scary.”
And Id have to say that it does kinda look like Cloverfield is trying really hard to get laid…
Franklyn could work, but does feel like deja vu.
The Signal will have a party before hand and after. Yes, we have the crazy.
Comment by SirCharlesKarate — January 18, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
Wow. I think the Signal will be the best. Babylon will suck just ’cause it has Diesel in it. Franklyn will be a good runner up, but I don’t have high hopes, simply because I’m religious myself. Maybe if it has a redemption factor at the end? Just my personal opinion.
Comment by Nathan — January 27, 2008 @ 10:18 pm
I hadn’t heard of The Signal before, but it sounds terrific.
Comment by Alexy — February 14, 2008 @ 1:20 am