New Trailers 2 | Halloween, Ozark and The Little Stranger
New Trailers on Headstuff is the place to catch up on all the latest teasers released in the world of Film and TV. Stephen Porzio tells you what’s hot and not. This time, there is two different types of evil: Michael Myers and conversion camps.
Most Anticipated – Halloween, Dir. David Gordon Green
The day I posted the last New Trailers column, the teaser for the Halloween reboot dropped. In the two weeks since, nothing surpassed it. Before the trailer, I was less excited than mildly curious about the prospect of a new Halloween co-written by Danny McBride and directed by the strange journeyman filmmaker that is David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Joe). However, this trailer has bumped it to one of the movies I am most excited for this year.
Yes, one can’t improve on the near-perfection that is John Carpenter’s 1978 original. Yes, it’s silly to have yet another Halloween movie that ignores previous entries in the franchise. Putting these issues aside, however, the part in the trailer where Michael Myers gets visited in the asylum has more ominous dread than any of the sequels. Meanwhile the closet scene that closes the trailer is the type of scare that could have appeared in the first film. I am not suggesting this can rival the Carpenter’s classic but it could be a solid tribute.
#2 – The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Dir Desiree Akhavan
This week, a French trailer was released for The Miseducation of Cameron Post, the sophomore effort from Desiree Akhavan (director of the brilliant Appropriate Behavior and star of the underseen Creep 2). The big winner at Sundance 2018, her latest stars Chloe Grace Moretz as the titular character. She is a young lesbian living in 90s America who is sent to a conversion camp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v2wjqR5xb0
Appropriate Behavior saw the Iranian-American Akhavan mining from personal experience to address themes regarding non-hetero sexuality and tolerance. Cameron Post seems to explore similar ideas but with a grander scope, suggesting the filmmaker is growing as an artist. Not only is her latest an adaptation of a novel by Emily M. Danforth, it focuses on a whole camp full of people persecuted for being themselves, as opposed to one. The film also stars American Honey’s Sasha Lane, an interesting bit of casting as like that drama, Cameron Post seems like it will explore a unique side of Americana. This time, one which should be banned for all eternity.
#3 – The Little Stranger, Dir. Lenny Abrahamson
After the success of Room, Irish director Lenny Abrahamson is shifting gears – tackling a genre he has not yet; horror. Adapted from the bestseller by Sarah Waters (whose novel Fingersmith became 2017’s The Handmaiden), Ireland’s most versatile actor Domhnall Gleeson stars in this 1940s set UK period piece as a country doctor named Faraday. He is called to a mansion where his mother once worked to treat a member of the rich Ayres family suffering from PTSD. Strange things begin to occur in the house as Faraday uncovers some dark secrets.
The trailer does not seem like anything new. Particularly for those who saw similar old-timey ghost stories like The Others, The Awakening or my favourite Crimson Peak. Still, fans of the gothic horror genre return to these movies not for originality, but for their gorgeous aesthetic and stories which blend history and fantasy. The Little Stranger seems like it will tick these boxes nicely. Plus, the cast consisting of Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling, Ruth Wilson and Will Poulter is very strong.
#4 Ozark, Season 2
Netflix’s Ozark at first felt a bit like Breaking Bad knock-off. Yet, throughout its first season grew into its own distinctly grim but pulpy dark crime-comedy. A lot of its success is down to Jason Bateman who stars as a money launderer who finds himself in debt to the Mexican cartel. To pay them back, he and his family (Laura Linney, so good as his wife, Wendy) must generate enough cash at a Summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks. Not only did Bateman confidently direct nearly half the first batch of episodes, he adds – perhaps through subtle line delivery or just his history of being in comedies – a layer of humour to this very dark show.
After a shocking in a good way season finale, it’s great to see Ozark back so soon. While this teaser is only brief, it does remind viewers how oddly attractive the series looks with that washed-out blue colour palette. Plus, the trailer hints this sophomore batch of episodes will be as intense, maybe more so, than before. There was not a lot of action in the first season. Therefore, I am pretty excited to see the car chase shootout teased in the trailer in full. I do wish though we got a glimpse of Janet McTeer. A highlight of Jessica Jones’ patchy second season, she has joined the cast of Ozark as an attorney for the cartel.
#5 – Tau, Dir Federico D’Alessandro
Continuing with Netflix releases, the streaming giant released the trailer for Tau this week. Maika Monroe (It Follows, The Guest) stars as a woman kidnapped by a mad scientist (Deadpool’s Ed Skrein). She is forced to be a guinea pig to test out a sentient and seemingly malevolent AI programme, voiced by Gary Oldman.
Netflix movies can go either way. The fact that this is from a debut filmmaker does not inspire great hope. However, the trailer looks fast-paced and claustrophobic. Gary Oldman’s robot sounds creepy. Meanwhile, if one is wondering why this Netflix movie’s production value looks so high, the DoP is the great Larry Smith, who shot movies for Nicolas Winding Refn and Stanley Kubrick. The Kubrick connection is a cool one given Tau looks like a slasher where HAL from Space Odyssey is the baddie.
