#OnTheBigScreen: Sinister Demons, Afterlife Experiments and Heroic Firefighters

The House on Willow Street

Roguish kidnappers abduct the daughter of a wealthy diamond distributor hoping to gain a large ransom, but when they have her locked up in their hideout, they come to realise their victim has been possessed by a sinister demon… Starring Sharni Vinson (Patrick: Evil Awakens; You’re Next; Bait), Carlyn Burchell (Red: Werewolf Hunter; RoboCop; Darker Than Night), Zino Ventura and Steven John Ward (Dominion).

This South African supernatural horror film is directed by Alastair Orr (The Unforgiving;  Expiration; Indigenous) from a screenplay co-written with Catherine Blackman and novelist Jonathan Jordaan (Expiration).

Flatliners

The original Flatliners hit the big screen in 1990 – an extremely stylised and unsettling film, it immediately struck a nerve with audiences.  Now, more than 25 years later, Flatliners returns to the screen in a contemporary reimagining.

Douglas, a producer of the original film, teamed with producers Laurence Mark and Peter Safran to bring the retelling to the screen. In the story five medical students, obsessed by the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring and dangerous experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods of time, each triggers a near-death experience – giving them a first-hand account of the afterlife, but as their experiments become increasingly perilous, they are each confronted by the sins of their pasts, brought on by the paranormal consequences of trespassing to the other side. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev from a screenplay by Ben Ripley and a story by Peter Filardi.

Wind River

Written and directed by Taylor Sheridan who is known for his work on Hell or High Water and Sicario, this suspense thriller follows the crime investigation of a young girl who lives in the US state of Wyoming who was found frozen, barefoot and dead in the ice mountains.

Only the Brave

It’s not what stands in front of you… it’s who stands beside you. Only the Brave, based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, is the heroic story of a local firefighting crew that becomes one of the most elite firefighting teams in the nation. As most of us run from danger, they run toward it – risking everything to save a town from a historic wildfire.

“In an age of superheroes, Only the Brave is a film about real heroes. It explores notions of brotherhood, sacrifice, redemption, all set in the world of wildfire – something I haven’t seen in the cinema before. It’s a story that needs to be told and a world that should be seen on a big screen,” says director Joseph Kosinski.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski (TRON: Legacy). Written by Ken Nolan and Eric Warren Singer. Based on the GQ article No Exit by Sean Flynn.

Hotel Salvation

An ominous dream convinces 77-year-old Dayanand Kumar (Adil Hussain) that his end could be near. He takes the news to his son Rajiv, knowing he wants to breathe his last in the holy city of Varanasi and end the cycle of rebirth, by attaining salvation.

Being the dutiful son he is, Rajiv is left with no choice but to drop everything and make the journey with his stubborn father. Daya and Rajiv check into Mukti Bhawan (Hotel Salvation) in Varanasi, a guesthouse devoted to people who want to die there, but as the days go by, Rajiv struggles to juggle his responsibilities back home, while Daya starts to bloom in the hotel. Rajiv gives his father a shot at salvation but as family bonds are tested, he finds himself torn, not knowing what he must do to keep his life together.

It was written and directed by Shubhashish Bhutiani.

Read more about the latest film releases: www.writingstudio.co.za.