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Cloverfield [BLU-RAY] (Paramount Home Entertainment, 6.3.2008) Disguised under deliberately goofy, yet deliciously edible-sounding, aliases such as Cheese and Slusho, Matt Reeves' Cloverfield was produced and rushed into theaters under an equally appetizing shroud of secrecy. From last year's incredibly elusive Super Bowl ad to the film's viral marketing campaign, Cloverfield had everybody scratching their heads and drooling in anticipation. Aside from the as-yet untitled title and the Blair Witch-ian visual style, the film's biggest appeal was the enigmatic creature who was last (un)seen hurling the decapitated head of the Statue of Liberty onto the crowded streets of New York City. All we knew about the mysterious beast was that it was big and angry. Now that the highy-anticipated project has come and gone, one question has fortunately been answered: Cloverfield was a major success. (continued)

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Kelly's horror film

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Richard Kelly has finally moved on from the somewhat disastrous Southland Tales chapter in his career by launching a new movie, The Box, a PG-13 horror film based on a Richard Matheson short story that became a Twilight Zone episode.

Kelly has written the screenplay. (An earlier report mentioned his having co-written it with Eli Roth). The $30 million flick, bankrolled by Media Rights Capital, will start shooting in the fall. Cameron Diaz will star as a thirty-ish wife with a greedy, opportunistic streak. (No word on the guy playing her husband.)

A site called Upcoming Horror Movies, linking to an early May report on Sci Fi Wire, quotes Kelly about the origins and plot particulars: The Box "is about a mysterious box that arrives on a young couple's doorstep," he says.. "There's a button on the box that presents them with an offer that says they will receive a great financial reward if they push the button, but someone they know will die. Madness ensues, and that's what the rest of the story's about."

"It's kind of a cult story that Matheson wrote long ago that was later formed into a Twilight Zone episode that I'd fallen in love with as a kid. Once I arrived in the business and had the opportunity to option the material, I thought it would be a great film, and Eli [Roth] and I found a lead into the material. It should be a good movie. We'll see."

I can't figure which Twilight Zone episode Kelly is referring to. Here's a list of the episodes written by Matheson, and I don't see anything that seems to fit the description. It may be based on a segment in the mid '80s Twilight Zone revival series called "Button, Button."

A synopsis that may or may not be reliable: "A down-on-their luck couple is given a box with a button on it, and told if they push it they'll recieve $200,000, but also that pushing the button will kill someone they don't know. The wife finally pushes it against her husband's will. The guy who delivers the box in the first place shows up with the money and to also retrieve the box to reset it. To the couple's surprise the guy assures them that the button will be reset and given to someone they don't know."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 28, 2007 at 01:53 PM

comment #1

Alan Cerny says ...

It was actually on the Twilight Zone redux series back in the late 80s, I think? I saw that episode. Iin the episode it was actually a box that killed someone they did NOT know. And at the end, they pushed the button, and got paid. They then asked what happens to the box and the guy who give it to them says, "Oh don't worry, it's going to someone else, someone you don't even know."

Posted by Alan Cerny at June 28, 2007 02:27 PM

comment #2

Alan Cerny says ...

And duh, you nailed it in the last paragraph.

Posted by Alan Cerny at June 28, 2007 02:29 PM

comment #3

Aladdin Sane says ...

That sounds like it could be decent.

Posted by Aladdin Sane at June 28, 2007 02:29 PM

comment #4

austinwave says ...

Wow. This was a pretty decent Twilight Zone episode, but I don't see how it can make a good movie. It is kind of a "one trick pony" like most TZ episodes and perfect for a shorter format like TV.

Posted by austinwave at June 28, 2007 02:38 PM

comment #5

George Prager says ...

He should've done the one where Kirsten Dunst loses her hair and turns gold.

Posted by George Prager at June 28, 2007 02:42 PM

comment #6

BurmaShave says ...

"It should be a good movie. We'll see."

Really inspires confidence. This is the genius behind DONNIE DARKO though, so I'll have faith. I'd really love to see SOUTHLAND TALES. How bad can it be?

Posted by BurmaShave at June 28, 2007 02:57 PM

comment #7

arch451 says ...

The concept is much older than the Twilight Zone. For example: "The Monkey's Paw," a short story by W. W. Jacobs, is about three wishes that come with a terrible price. It was published in 1901 or 1902.

Posted by arch451 at June 28, 2007 03:03 PM

comment #8

snoopy_says_bleah says ...

I've always felt that "Donnie Darko" actually owed quite a bit to an old Twilight Zone episode called "Ring a Ding Girl."

In that episode, an actress flying home gets a premonition that a plane is going to crash into her hometown park. So she stages a one-woman show in the high school auditorium simply to get the townspeople away from the crash site. Then, as they're waiting, they get the news that the plane has crashed -- only the actress on it. The actress simply smiles, walks away and disappears as news spreads and townspeople cry out, "But I just saw her!"

Now, the Twilight Zone mystery was more about, Was the actress simply a vision to everyone in the town or not? But it shared thematic elements were the movie: foreknowledge of a plane crash, having to sacrifice yourself in that crash to save others, etc.

Posted by snoopy_says_bleah at June 28, 2007 03:06 PM

comment #9

christian says ...

i read a draft. it's pretty good.

Posted by christian at June 28, 2007 03:13 PM

comment #10

dangovich says ...

Does the button also teach Cameron Diaz how to act?

Posted by dangovich at June 28, 2007 03:37 PM

comment #11

arch451 says ...

It teaches Cameron Diaz how to act. Unfortunatly, it kills Meryl Streep.

Posted by arch451 at June 28, 2007 04:01 PM

comment #12

BurmaShave says ...

Actually I think DONNIE DARKO owes a lot to THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. It gets more obvious with repeat viewings. Now it's quite conceivable LAST TEMPTATION was inspired by Ring a Ding Girl. That'd be a hoot.

Posted by BurmaShave at June 28, 2007 04:11 PM

comment #13

Hopscotch says ...

Yeah I never quite fell in love with Richard Kelly the way so many of my peers did. Donnie Darko is a good movie, but the attention it gets...boggling. Hey good luck to the guy. I'd be happy to see Southland Tales one day in the future...

Posted by Hopscotch at June 28, 2007 04:17 PM

comment #14

Wrecktum says ...

You ruined the twist at the end of the episode. Luckily, Mathison's story ends differently.

I've always thought that a lot of original Twilight Zone scripts could be fleshed out into decent B-movies. A few that come to mind are "Two" (originally starring Elizabeth Montgomery and Charles Bronson) and "Steel" an awesome futuristic boxer noir piece starring Lee Marvin.

"Steel", especially, would make a great film. Producers, let's start buying rights to these great stories.

Posted by Wrecktum at June 28, 2007 04:41 PM

comment #15

The Movie Man says ...

I thought Donnie Darko was overrated, but Kelly is talented, and he does slow burn TZ pretty well. Is any version of Southland being released at all?

Posted by The Movie Man at June 28, 2007 05:05 PM

comment #16

carla kolchak says ...

'It teaches Cameron Diaz how to act. Unfortunatly, it kills Meryl Streep.
- Posted by: arch451'

Hahaha, nice one, Arch!

If Matheson had been the one to 'flesh it out', I might be interested in this. Alas...

Posted by carla kolchak at June 28, 2007 06:56 PM

comment #17

Midwest Doug says ...

The original story (not the TZ version) has a crueler ending, more in line with the idea of sickly suburbia. I agree that I don't see how this makes an entire movie, unless there is some tacked-on revenge act.

Posted by Midwest Doug at June 28, 2007 07:37 PM

comment #18

Undercover Brother says ...

Okay, so does anyone know if "Southland Tales" will EVER BE FUCKING RELEASED?!? If it's the hopeless disaster everyone reports it to be, fine. Just let me see it and decide for myself already. I'm glad Kelly is finally cutting himself loose and moving on. He's probably healthier for it. But I still want to see this mammoth debacle of his. I'm tired of waiting. At this point it can only be anti-climactic to all involved.

Posted by Undercover Brother at June 28, 2007 09:08 PM

comment #19

cinefan says ...

Richard Matheson-scripted twilight zone episodes Night Call and Spur of the Moment are both quite good. I think Spur, in particular, has a really creepy and unsettling plot that also could be developed into a decent low-budget horror/sci-fi flick.

Posted by cinefan at June 28, 2007 11:10 PM

comment #20