WonderCon, the sister to Comic-Con, returned to Anaheim Convention Centre this year. Today was the last day of all things comic books,film and television. From various news reports, I have picked out some ofthe weekends highlights (albeit a bit prematurely). Obviously, due to the sheer magnitude of such aconvention, it is not an all encompassing list and I have no doubt missed bitsand pieces which have some people bouncing off the walls. Nevertheless, hereare my top picks:
Produced by horror filmmaker Eli Roth, based on Brian McGreevy’s novel, Hemlock Grove follows the brutal murder of a 17 year old girl. The suspects are gypsy-werewolf Peter and rich-kid Roman who take it upon themselves to solve the murder instead. The show very much deals with ‘the monster within’ and appears to be, in Roth’s own words, something ‘harder’ than the Twilight series. Its panel at WonderCon this year treated us to a snippet of the show, which just so happened to feature a very impressive werewolf transformation scene – if you haven’t already, check out my thoughts on this sequence and watch it here. This sneak peak and the panels Q&A have effectively upped the ante and excitement is definitely in the air. All 13 episodes will be available on Netflix from April 19th.
Last night the first two episodes of NBC’s Hannibal were exclusively screened at WonderCon. By the looks of things, the verdict is not quite in yet but I have to say I am quite excited about its release on April 4th.Obviously with the likes of Brian Cox in Manhunter and Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs, the series has a lot to live up to. However I have faith in Mads Mikkelsen and his creepy ways, expecting him to be a captivating screen presence and the star of the show. Until the reviews are in from WonderCon attendees, here is a reminder of its official trailer...
Guillermo del Toro raised excitement feverishly high by showing a brand new trailer for Pacific Rim at the films panel. Pacific Rim will be one of the biggest science-fiction releases this year and follows the premise of rather large human-piloted robots, Jaegers, fighting giant monsters, Kaiju, who arise from a crevice in the Pacific Ocean. Think huge spectacle and mass destruction but in the hands of visionary genius del Toro –no Michael Bay nonsense that’s for sure. The panel also featured general discussion on del Toro’s experience of making the film and its current status (85% of visual effects complete and they’re currently mixing sound). Pacific Rim is due for release on July 12th 2013. Unfortunately, the trailer released at WonderCon was for their eyes only so the best I can do is provide you with the official trailer released a few months ago...
James Wan (Insidious, Saw) attended WonderCon on Saturday, scaring the living daylights out of convention attendees boasting new footage from his upcoming feature, The Conjuring. Based on true accounts by paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, the film is a somewhat predecessor to the Amityville case. Set in 1971, it follows a family and their not-so-homely farmhouse, haunted by a witch’s spirit. All three bits of footage featured a lot of what can be seen in the trailer below - pictures falling off the walls in a thunderous fashion, a terrifying game of hide-and-seek and an unwise investigation of strange noises coming from the cellar. A new bit of footage included two daughters, Christine and Nancy, and an unfortunate disturbance in the middle of the night. It all looks and sounds pretty damn creepy and I hope that Wan will continue with the less-is-more approach seen in the footage throughout the entire film. Saying that, I can't help but feel it will become a bit of a let down and that we may have already seen the greater scares it has to offer... The Conjuring is due for release July 19th.
Once again, Evil Dead sent fans into a frenzy at WonderCon. We've already been gleefully horrified with various images, trailers andfootage. Critics have also praised the film very highly so we know that, generally, Fede Alvarez has done a great job at rebooting a much loved classic. So what else does he have to offer? Well at the panel he declared that if the film does well, a sequel will happen and hopefully in conjunction with Sam Raimi’s work on Army of Darkness 2. Here’s the kicker, Alvarez then declared he would like there to be a seventh film in which both franchises crossover (the one and only Bruce Campbell optimistically concurred). Let the influx of fan-fic commence! A sneaky piece of footage (premiered at World Star Hip Hop) was also shown at the panel,which you can see below...
So those were my highlights and that's it for another year at WonderCon. I think it is safe to say there are a few things to look forward to in 2013!
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