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New Zealand has a proud tradition of gleefully unhinged genre cinema, and The Weed Eaters looks set to earn its place among the cult favourites. The debut feature from director Callum Devlin, the film follows four friends on a New Year’s getaway that takes a grisly turn when a peculiar strain of weed unleashes a craving for human flesh. Low-budget, high-energy, and fuelled by a commitment to doing it all with a tiny crew in rural Canterbury, the result is a stoner-comedy-horror that embraces chaos and never looks back.

Credit: Annabel Kean

For Devlin, the leap into features grew out of his background in music videos and his long-standing creative collaborations.

Following the success of his "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy adaptation, director Peter Jackson was Hollywood's shiniest golden boy in the early 2000s. He had made millions upon millions of dollars, jumpstarted the New Zealand tourism industry (where the "Rings" films were shot), revolutionized special effects, and racked up 17 Oscars (collectively). He could seemingly do no wrong. So, as a follow-up, Jackson was pretty much allowed to make whatever he wanted and at whatever budget he desired. His dream project, as it turned out, was to remake Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's 1933 classic "King Kong." Only this time, Jackson would indulge in every stray impulse and allow his movie to take every possible aside.

Jackson's "King Kong" ended up costing about $207 million and ran a whopping 187 minutes (whereas the original film was only 100 minutes long). It took a very long time for the main characters to arrive on Kong's Skull Island,...

In the early '90s, "The Lord of the Rings" was just that weird cartoon from Ralph Bakshi, the most famous Kate was "heroin chic" supermodel Kate Moss, and Kiwi director Peter Jackson was only really on the radar of gorehounds thanks to his splattery, low-budget horror comedies like "Bad Taste" and "Braindead." That all began to change with the arrival of "Heavenly Creatures" in 1994, a fantastical period drama about a sensational but mostly forgotten true-life crime.

Distributed internationally under the Miramax banner (with "In a World" voiceover master Don Lafontaine doing his thing on the trailer), "Heavenly Creatures" was the first Jackson film you might actually take your mum to watch at the cinema. It also introduced the world to two young unknown actresses, Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey, playing a pair of schoolgirls whose retreat into an imaginary world leads to obsession, insanity, and murder.

"Heavenly Creatures" was...

Everyone's got to start somewhere, and that somewhere ain't necessarily got to be pretty. Take Tom Cruise, for example. He made his film acting debut in Franco Zeffirelli's teen romance "Endless Love," an avalanche of ick notable for its Diana Ross/Lionel Richie theme song and notorious for the scene where Shirley Knight's bohemian mother watches approvingly from the top of a staircase as her 15-year-old daughter (Brooke Shields) has firelit sex with her 17-year-old boyfriend (Martin Hewitt). Somehow, Cruise survived this association with one of the most atrociously awful movies of the 1980s to become one of the world's biggest movie stars.

On the less scandalous end of the spectrum, Paul Newman's first movie was the biblical epic "The Silver Chalice," for which he received mostly lousy reviews. Jessica Lange was ridiculed for conjuring the ghost of Carole Lombard to play a daffy starlet in the 1976 remake of "King Kong.

Peter Jackson hasn’t directed a feature film in over a decade, which has left fans wondering if he’s largely retired from that aspect of filmmaking. Thankfully, it seems that we will have another movie from the Lord of the Rings director at some point. While speaking with ScreenRant, Jackson confirmed that he hasn’t retired, and is actually working on three different scripts.

“No, no. I’m certainly not retired,” Jackson said. “We are currently working on three different screenplays. I’m at the moment writing three different scripts.“

Jackson continued, “We are producing and have been writing The Hunt for Gollum, which Andy Serkis is going to direct next year. I’ve enjoyed working on documentaries, whether they show I’ve grown old or not, and obviously the Get Back The Beatles project. I’ve enjoyed doing various things with The Beatles, which is great, and that’ll probably carry on.

Listen to the exclusive premiere of Papa Roach’s brand-new song, “Braindead” featuring Toby Morse, on Octane (Ch. 37) throughout the day on car radios and the SiriusXM app and web player on June 24 at 11am Et. The song will then air on the channel throughout the week.

“Braindead” PremiereOn air throughout the day starting June 24 at 11am ETListen on the App

Listen on the App

Related: I Prevail Premieres New Song ‘Into Hell’ on Octane On SiriusXM’s Octane channel, you’ll experience the loud and uncensored community of new hard rock, featuring the next generation of headbangers destined to be headliners. In addition to world premieres of songs, tune in 24/7 to listen to exclusive shows, interviews with bands, Guest DJ specials, music countdowns, and more. Stream the channel anytime on the SiriusXM app and web player.

The post Listen: Papa Roach ‘Braindead’ World Premiere on Octane appeared first on SiriusXM.

This article contains spoilers for "28 Years Later."

It may sound strange — for those of us who lived through it, it's strange to remember — but back before "28 Days Later" was released in 2002 in the UK (and 2003 in the US), the zombie subgenre was all but dead. Director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland have been stipulating that the creatures they created are not technically zombies since the film's release, yet the film's rage virus operates in a highly similar fashion to the version of the zombie created and popularized by George A. Romero in 1968's "Night of the Living Dead." While the subgenre of zombie films never entirely ceased after the release of Romero's first movie, it experienced a lull during the 1990s, as genre filmmakers eschewed the typical tropes inherent in the subgenre in favor of experimentation, as seen in films like "Dead Alive," "Cemetery Man," and "My Boyfriend's Back.

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If you've read Matthew Perry's memoir, "Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing," you'll know how important fame was to the young actor. Perry, who sadly passed away in 2023, wrote about how, prior to playing Chandler Bing in "Friends" and becoming a global megastar, fame seemed as though it would "change everything" for him. "I yearned for it more than any other person on the face of the planet," he wrote. "It was the only thing that would fix me. I was certain of it."

Though he would eventually get his wish and quickly find out that it wasn't quite the salve he expected, Perry spent years trying to attain fame and recognition. It didn't come quickly. The actor made his first on-screen appearance as a child in the TV series "240-Robert" back in 1979. But after moving to Los...

Peter Jackson's 1992 film "Braindead," called "Dead Alive" in North America, is easily one of the goriest films of all time. It features buckets and buckets of gooey, blood and guts, and boasts scenes of people's heads being knocked off, bodies being impaled, and human lips being eaten right off their faces. A human head is fed into a food processor, and a baby is punted. The remnants of a dog corpse are pulled from a human gullet, and a living, slithering human colon crawls around on the floor like a great bloody worm. Oh yes, and the film climaxes with its hero, Lionel (Timothy Balme), upending a lawnmower and walking through the living room, crowded with zombie attackers. Limbs go flying everywhere.

Jackson, back when he had a sense of humor, presented all his zombie gore with a slapstick sensibility, ensuring that his film was as funny as it was gory.

Robert and Michelle King have been great partners with CBS and CBS Studios for years. The couple has worked together on numerous projects throughout the years, with Elsbeth being their latest one airing on the network. CBS is looking to extend this relationship for the foreseeable future. The network has opened up a writers' room for The Kings' new drama series, Cupertino. The network has ordered scripts for twelve episodes, and if everything works out well, Cupertino will be on the network's schedule in the 2026-2027 TV season. Much about the show is unknown, but it is described as "a David vs. Goliath legal show set in Silicon Valley." The Kings will executive produce alongside Liz Glotzer.

The Kings' relationship with CBS started with the drama series The Good Wife, which aired from 2009 to 2016. The legal drama starred Juliana Margulies, Matt Czury, and Josh Charles, among others. The couple returned...

Robert and Michelle King’s latest drama project for CBS is taking a step forward, with the network ordering a full writers room to produce 12 scripts of Cupertino, described as David vs. Goliath legal show set in Silicon Valley. The series is targeted for the 2026-27 season.

The move was announced by CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach at the network’s upfront press event Wednesday.

It comes after Deadline reported earlier this spring that the Kings’ pilot script had been delivered to CBS to a great response. (Cupertino had originally been set up at CBS for development last summer.)

“When we read the script, it was a no-brainer that we wanted to move forward with the project under our longterm development,” Reisenbach said.

Related: CBS Exec Addresses Cancellations Of ‘The Equalizer’ & ‘FBI’ Shows: “We Have To Be Fiscally Responsible”

The Kings and Liz Glotzer executive produce for King Size Productions.

Elijah Wood was already a noteworthy actor when he was cast in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Ringstrilogy, starring in films like The Good Son, North, and The Faculty. The actor became a household name, however, when he starred as the Hobbit Frodo in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) alongside his faithful friend Samwise, played by Sean Astin.

Wood, who can currently be seen in Yellowjackets, recently came clean regarding the salaries of the actors in the J.R.R. Tolkien-based trilogy. Per Entertainment Weekly via Business Insider, Wood said that Jackson and New Line Cinema took a “real gamble” on the movies when they were first developed in 1999.

“Because we weren't making one movie and then renegotiating a contract for the next, it wasn’t the sort of lucrative scenario that you could sort of rest easy for the rest of your life,...

A low budget horror splatter comedy with obscene amounts of blood. The most iconic fantasy story with adventure, emotion, and scale being adapted into a monumental trilogy which shaped an entire generation. Two contrasting filmmaking endeavors you would only find on a shelf next to each other when you find the Peter Jackson section at your local movie store (if you still have those near you). Film directors can be commended on various platforms including their talent, creativity, resourcefulness, and influence. While Peter Jackson holds all these qualities, his most unique trait is his diverse choice of genre spread out in his filmography. Not that most directors stick to one kind of film through their entire career (though some do), but they at least develop a cinematic style or choice of story that remains the same throughout their career. As seen through his 37 years of making feature films, Jackson is...

The fantasy genre has paved the way for multiple popular shows like Supernatural and Game of Thrones, which have become huge staples in pop culture. As iconic and bingeworthy as those series are, they feel flawed in certain areas, specifically with their endings. Meanwhile, there is an expansive library of hidden fantasy TV gems that don't get the recognition they deserve.

Whether overshadowed by competition, didn't have enough promotion or were unjustly canceled after one or two seasons, these fantasy shows have largely fallen under the radar. Nevertheless, dedicated fandoms have acknowledged these shows for the aesthetically pleasing and wildly creative narratives they are. From short-lived series like Lovecraft Country to action epics like Into the Badlands, these fantasy TV entries are entertaining with each passing episode.

Updated on March 15, 2025, by Chen Drachman: With more news coming out about the new Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,...

In the ’70s and early ’80s, perhaps the only thing that Stephen King liked more than a child with a psychic gift/curse was an inanimate object that becomes possessed by evil. A car, HGVs and even a laundry press lurched into life to wreak destruction, and all of these mechanical menaces made their inexorable way from page to screen, directed by John Carpenter (Christine), King himself and Tobe Hooper (The Mangler).

The Monkey, first published by Gallery magazine in 1980 and revised to feature in King’s 1985 collection of short stories Skeleton Crew, located genuine revulsion and terror in a wind-up toy. Eyes shining with “idiot glee” and lips pulled back in a “carnivorous” grin, the hirsute curio shuddered to life to clap its cymbals… and Death danced. The monkey was, in short, evil incarnate.

The main sustenance is course after course of ketchup-covered set-pieces...

So who better to adapt...

Quick Links Jed Brophy Started With Small Roles in The Lord of the Rings Jed Brophy Was a Star of The Hobbit Trilogy Jed Brophy Returned to Middle-earth Almost a Decade Later

Though Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has made some allusions to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films, it takes place in a separate continuity and is not officially connected to Jackson's version of Middle-earth. As such, it has not carried over any actors from the films, instead recasting characters like Galadriel, Elrond, and Isildur. That does not mean that no actors from Jackson's films were involved in The Rings of Power -- they simply played different roles. For example, the three Nmenrean workers who brawled with Halbrand in the episode "Adar" were portrayed by Jason Hood, Mana Hira Davis, and Winham Hammond, who served as...

The melt movie, a subcategory of body horror, is a specific flavor of genre film wherein the flesh melts, oozes, and dissolves into goo. These films are best viewed on an empty stomach.

On that note, this week brings the release of Ryan Kruger‘s Street Trash, a spiritual sequel to the 1987 melt movie cult classic that boasts no shortage of gruesome, practical effects-driven meltdowns. Flesh dissolves in vibrant but gooey fashion, inspiring this week’s streaming picks.

Brace your stomach for these five horror titles, all finding inventive new ways to explore this niche corner of body horror. As always, here’s where you can stream them this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

The Blob – Tubi

Chuck Russell’s remake of the 1958 sci-fi horror film dials up the practical effects to eleven and delivers on the memorable, goopy horror moments. In keeping with tradition,...

With Fall in full swing, there's no better time to revisit some time-honored horror classics. Some enjoy slashers like Friday The 13th or Halloween, while others gravitate towards creature features like John Carpenter's The Thing. Recently, many have films like Get Out and Hereditary as socially conscious examples of elevated horror. These genre-defying works of fiction have left indelible marks on pop culture, creating cinematic icons in the process. However, there's an especially idiosyncratic gothic thriller that remains unknown amongst horror enthusiasts. Released to middling reviews, Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight is a misunderstood gem in desperate need of revaluation.

Upon first glance, one could easily assume this film is nothing but a cheap cash grab. A feature-length episode of HBO's Tales From The Crypt, many believed Demon Knight would channel the show's worst impulses. Thankfully, director Ernest R. Dickerson was happy to prove the naysayers wrong. Providing B-movie thrills with gonzo creativity,...

It’s somewhat fitting that a show so adept at exploring the unknown would find itself facing the unknown more often than not, which was often the case with the Paramount Plus cult hit horror series “Evil.”

The show, which followed a small team of “assessors” working for the Catholic church investigating all types of supernatural mysteries ranging from possessions to miracles, premiered to healthy buzz on CBS in 2019 and rave reviews from horror fans. But ratings were more modest by the end of Season 1, so Paramount opted to make the series a streaming exclusive on its fledgling (at the time) streaming service Paramount Plus.

After initially jumping from broadcast to streaming to survive potential cancelation, “Evil” would manage to hang on for four seasons and a total of 50 episodes, before wrapping its run in August of 2024 just in time for a full Halloween season binge. Paramount chose to end...

Cate Blanchett gave quite a little shock to Andy Cohen this August when she revealed that her role in Peter Jacksons The Lord of the Rings did not garner her biggest paycheck. The brilliant Australian actress gave a near otherworldly performance as Galadriel in the epic trilogy, but she did not take on the role for fame and fortune, the latter of which being scant for most actors in those movies. Instead, Blanchett told Cohen that she wanted to work with the director of Braindead. It is, by now, fairly well known that Peter Jackson got his start directing splatter movies, and the most famous of these films is 1992s Braindead, better known as Dead Alive in the US. The film is gloriously over the top, and while it does not especially resemble Jacksons tone in The Lord of the Rings (to put it mildly!), one can easily see why Blanchett is a fan.

Alex Cross is back with Cross Season 1, and we’re incredibly excited about it!

Prime Video has picked up Cross, an adaptation of the prolific James Patterson series. It’s a star-studded affair onscreen and off.

As one of the year’s most highly-anticipated series, we’re here to share everything you need to know about Cross and what’s to come.

(Amazon MGM Studios) Is Cross Inspired by the James Patterson Book Series?

Cross is just another in many adaptations of James Patterson‘s popular bestselling crime mystery series about a D.C. detective, Alex Cross.

The series was first introduced in 1993 and has 32 novels that complete the entire series.

It also has two novellas and at least three spinoff books in which Alex’s son, Ali, takes center stage and solves mysteries of his own.

All American Casting Shakeup: Six Stars Exit as Michael Evans Behling, Greta Onieogou...

Exclusive: Eight years after the end of The Good Wife, Robert King and Michelle King are developing another legal drama for CBS. Tentatively titled Cupertino, after the city in California’s Silicon Valley known as the headquarters of Apple, the project is described as David vs. Goliath legal show set in Silicon Valley.

The Kings are writing the script for Cupertino, which the duo and Liz Glotzer are executive producing for King Size Productions. CBS Studios, where Robert and Michelle King have been based for the past 15 years, is producing with their King Size Productions.

Silicon Valley is proving to be a hot drama series setting this summer. A project about the rise of the tech industry starring Rosamund Pike from Scott Galloway and Scott Z. Burns is currently being shopped to streamers.

Robert and Michelle King created and executive produced The Good Wife, which aired on CBS for seven seasons and won five Emmys.

Movies stars aren't like us. They live in palatial mansions in the Los Angeles hills, they travel the world for business and pleasure, and they regularly get paid sums of money that would change the lives of most ordinary people. We all love our favorite actors. And there's nothing wrong with being successful and rich, but money leads to a change in perspective, and sometimes it can be jarring to realize how big that change is.

For instance, recently Cate Blanchett has been in the news for an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen where the host asked her to name the biggest paycheck she ever got for a film. She demurred, which is fine, but was quick to assure Cohen that her biggest paycheck wasn't from The Lord of the Rings, where she played elven queen Galadriel. "No one got paid anything to do that movie,...

David Cronenberg's influence has shaped the modern horror landscape, blending metaphysical and physical elements for provocative storytelling. Cronenberg's impact on body horror is evident in films like American Mary, Slither, and Kuso, pushing boundaries with grotesque transformations. Newer films like Censor and Possessor continue Cronenberg's legacy, exploring themes of anatomy, self-transformation, and the blurred lines between reality and fiction.

The modern horror landscape wouldnt look the same without the influence of body horror maestro David Cronenberg. Since his debut, Shivers, a sticky satire about an apartment complex infected with an erotic virus clearly meant to critique the sexual revolution, his work has provoked by combining metaphysical with the very-physical on screen, plumbing the depths of the human animals urges by testing its boundaries, usually proving them much too porous for comfort, from The Fly to The Brood, to Videodrome.

The once-polarizing Cronenberg has become an elder statesman in horror over the years.

“It’s a clean sweep,” Steven Spielberg said before presenting director Peter Jackson with the award for Best Picture at the 2004 Oscars. Collecting the 11th statue of the night for The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, Jackson thanked the Academy for looking “past the trolls and...

After Peter Jackson redefined fantasy cinema with The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he returned to try and make lightning strike twice with The Hobbit. However, Jackson didn't always intend to direct the sequel trilogy, as Guillermo del Toro was once attached to the director's chair. Cate Blanchett, who appeared in both trilogies as the elf Galadriel, remembers when del Toro was in charge of the project and wonders what the unique director would have brought to the franchise. The horror auteur behind Pan's Labyrinth, The Devil's Backbone, Cronos, and Blade II would have brought his fantastical gothic vision to the Lord of the Rings franchise.

Cate Blanchett spoke to GQ to look back at her most iconic characters throughout her career. While discussing her vital role in The Lord of the Rings, the actress was asked about her time appearing in The Hobbit and if she ever worked with...

Cate Blanchett’s role as Galadriel in The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) was iconic for several reasons. The actress played the role of a royal elf with magical abilities and narrated the prologue scene. Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy ended up becoming one of the most successful franchises.

The actress was a part of the later sequels of the 2001 movie, but she was not supposed to return for the prequel. This was because it was based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit prequel, which did not include Galadriel’s character. However, a playful email resulted in the movie version including the popular role, which pleasantly surprised fans.

Cate Blanchett’s unexpected return as Galadriel

Through her role in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Cate Blanchett immortalized the character of Galadriel. In an interview with GQ,...

Cate Blanchett landed a cameo role in 'The Hobbit' by sending a "jokey email" to director Peter Jackson.The 55-year-old actress played Galadriel in the 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy and she has confessed she got excited when she heard Jackson was returning to the same fantasy world to bring the prequel to the big screen but Cate told GQ she thought "there wasn’t a snowflake’s chance in Hell of me reprising my role."However, she decided to take a chance and send Jackson a message. She explained: "I sent kind of a jokey email to Pete, saying, ‘You know, if you want to put Galadriel in, I’m free. I’ll come over'."Cate was amazed when the director agreed and she was given a small role alongside Sir Ian McKellen - who returned as Gandalf the Grey - in 2012's 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey'.

Cate Blanchett set the record straight on her pay for filming The Lord of the Rings.

The star of the Peter Jackson-directed trilogy cleared up the misconception that it was a high-paying job.

While appearing on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live, Blanchett played “Plead the Fifth,” in which host Andy Cohen asks his guest three hard questions and can only veto one of them.

Cohen asked Blanchett which one of her films gave her “the biggest paycheck.” The Borderlands star told Cohen to guess which film it was after he said he assumed it was Lord of the Rings.

“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett said. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.”

Cohen asked Blanchett if she got a cut of the film’s box office success, to which she said, “No, that was way before any of that.”

Blanchett said that she signed up...

Cate Blanchett made an unexpected revelation about what she got paid to star in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

If you forgot, the 55-year-old Borderlands actress played the elf Galadriel in the original trio of movies, starting in 2001. She reprised the role in three movies from the spinoff series The Hobbit.

During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Cate was asked about her biggest payday, and Andy Cohen guessed it was with the franchise. Her answer will likely shock you.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Are you kidding me,” she exclaimed in surprise when Andy guessed the movies. “No. I didn’t get paid anything to do that movie.” She added that it was before the days where actors would get a bonus to their base salary for the movie’s performance at the box office.

Why did she take the role then? “I wanted to work...

Cate Blanchett may have two Oscars, but back in the day, she was glad just to get a free sandwich.

The actress revealed that her miniscule salary on “The Lord of the Rings” films only covered crafts services and her costumes. Blanchett played royal elf Galadriel in the film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson that began in 2001.

“I wanted to work with the guy who made ‘Braindead,'” Blanchett said during “Watch What Happens Live” in the below video. Jackson helmed the 1992 zombie comedy, which was released as “Dead Alive” in North America.

But “The Lord of the Rings” was far from Blanchett’s biggest paycheck.

“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett said when asked about her salary for the blockbuster series. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie. […] I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my [elf] ears.”

“Wwhl” host Andy Cohen later asked if...

Cate Blanchett reveals that she was paid very little for playing Galadriel in Lord of the Rings, including no backend pay based on box office. Blanchett took the role because she wanted to work with Peter Jackson. The Lord of the Rings cast featured mostly unknown actors at the time, meaning most didn't command high movie-star salaries.

Lord of the Rings star Cate Blanchett recalls her low salary for appearing in Peter Jackson's beloved trilogy. Based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, the first installment in Jackson's trilogy was released in 2001, introducing audiences to Elijah Wood's Frodo as he embarks on an epic quest to destroy the One Ring. The Lord of the Rings cast includes a host of talented actors, with Blanchett playing a memorable role as Elven queen Galadriel during The Fellowship of the Ring's Lothlrien sequence, a character she would revisit in the latter...

During her appearance on Watch What Happens Live alongside Borderlands co-star Gina Gershon, Cate Blanchett didn’t plead the fifth when host Andy Cohen brought up her Lord of the Rings pay.

When Cohen asked the Oscar winner during the late night show’s popular “Plead the Fifth” segment which film has gotten her the biggest paycheck, Blanchett wanted to hear the host’s guess before answering. “I think it’s probably Lord of the Rings,” said Cohen.

Blanchett, seemingly finding a way around having to plead the fifth, responded, “Are you kidding me?! No, I didn’t get paid anything to do that movie!”

Cohen was shocked and wondered what happened. “I wanted to work with the guy who made Braindead,” she replied, referencing Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson’s 1992 zombie flick. “I mean, I basically got free sandwiches, and I got to keep my ears — which is something they fed me,...

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is widely regarded as one of the most beloved and successful trilogies of all time. However, it turns out the salaries weren't as high as some would believe.

Two-time Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett revealed in a new interview on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that she didn't get much for her role in The Lord of the Rings. The actress played the royal Elf Lady Galadriel in the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novels and appeared in all three original films of the franchise. She later reprised her role in the prequel trilogy The Hobbit.

Related 'I Got Really Absorbed': Cate Blanchett Bought a PS5 to Prepare for Borderlands Role

Borderlands star Cate Blanchett opens up about what she did to prepare for her role as Lilith in the film adaptation of the beloved video game series.

During the segment "Plead the Fifth,...

“The Lord of the Rings” is one of the highest-grossing film series of all time, having grossed $2.9 billion worldwide. But, according to Cate Blanchett, that doesn’t necessarily mean the actors earned a handsome salary for their involvement in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.

During “Watch What Happens Live” on Tuesday night, host Andy Cohen asked Blanchett what film she received the biggest paycheck for. “I think it’s probably ‘Lord of the Rings,'” Cohen guessed.

“Are you kidding me?” Blanchett replied. “No, no one got paid anything to do that movie.”

When Cohen asked her if she “got a piece of the backend,” Blanchett replied, “No! That was way before any of that. No, nothing.”

“I wanted to work with the guy who made ‘Braindead,'” she continued, referring to Jackson and his 1992 zombie comedy film, which was released as “Dead Alive” in North America.

Blanchett starred in...

The director of The Vourdalak, Adrien Beau recommends six horror favorites.

Family is the ultimate encapsulation of society. It offers us a taste of the whole world, but at a molecular level – and is very convenient if you want to destroy the world via your storytelling. The Greeks knew it with their tragedies, and we’re still using it to this day.

The tale of The Vourdalak is about how a monster can destroy their relatives from within, feeding one by one on those they love the most. In our case it’s a fatherly, patriarchal figure who has transformed into something inhuman… but the horrible threat can come from elsewhere in the family unit.

Here, I share my five favorite horror films about that very topic…

Horror Featuring… The Father And Mother

Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining, of course, is my definitive pick when it comes to fear of one’s father.

Peter Jackson has a wide range of successful projects under his name, from blockbuster franchises like The Lord of the Rings to cult classics like Meet the Feebles and Dead Alive. And his journey to becoming one of the most proficient filmmakers in the industry began with the 1987 film Bad Taste, which paved the way for his illustrious career in the film industry.

Peter Jackson | Credit: Wikimedia Commons/foilman

The film has since become a cult classic known for its over-the-top gore and dark humor. However, it faced significant challenges during production, particularly due to limited resources. In order to realize his vision, Jackson found himself compelled to employ unconventional methods to secure funding.

Peter Jackson’s Sneaky Tactics to Fund His Debut Feature Film

Peter Jackson’s journey as the filmmaker began with the gory extravaganza of the 1987 sci-fi horror comedy Bad Taste. Based in a fictional town in New Zealand,...

Born on the 31st of October 1961, in Pukerua Bay, a small seaside suburb in the North Island of New Zealand, Sir Peter Jackson became a film lover during his early childhood. Overwhelmed by the striking black-and-white imagery of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack's original 1933 creature feature, King Kong, an impressionable nine-year-old Jackson made it his life's goal to create movie magic. Kicking off what would become a world-renowned career in film-making, a small cult following would amass around Jackson's earliest works, a bizarre series of grotesque and often visually repulsive horror/comedies in the form of Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles and Braindead.

These days, Peter Jackson is best known for directing big budget spectacles. He took the Hobbits to Mordor, he cast Benedict Cumberbatch as a dragon, he brought us the sight of a motion-capture King Kong smacking around a bunch of dinosaurs. But when he was just getting his career started, he was making very different kinds of movies: horror comedies that were drenched in blood and pretty much every other bodily fluid you can think of. In 1992, he brought the world what may be the bloodiest film ever made: a zombie comedy he would call Braindead, but many fans know it as Dead Alive. And if you haven’t seen this one yet (you can watch it Here), it’s the Best Horror Movie You Never Saw.

Peter Jackson never had any formal film school training, and not just because they didn’t have such courses in his home country of New Zealand.

Fast zombies redefine horror genre by introducing relentless, terrifying undead threats in recent films. Classic horror comedies and action horrors showcase the evolution and danger of fast-moving zombies. Movies like "Train to Busan" and "28 Days Later" explore post-apocalyptic fast zombie scenarios in thrilling ways.

Fast zombies were terrifying creatures that have frightened filmgoers in plenty of nail-bitingly tense zombie movies in recent years. While the zombie horror movie genre dates as far back as White Zombie in 1932 and its modern incarnation can be traced to George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968, these earlier movies featured slow-moving, lethargic zombies that were easily outrun when compared to more sinister fast-moving zombies. While fast-moving zombies have their origins in 1980s horror, they truly came to the forefront in 21st-century horror movies that featured undead creatures.

From horror comedies like The Return of the Living Dead to truly tense...

Looking back on the horror genre throughout time, there’s always been a period where certain sub-genres have been most prominent. The 70s and 80s were all about the slasher flicks, with masked villains marauding around sleepy suburbs or high school kids having their heads chopped off, while remakes such as House of Wax and Ring dominated the early noughties. There’s another sub-genre, however, that had its roots in splatter films such as Peter Jackson’s superbly gross Bad Taste and Braindead, plus ‘video nasties’ like 1978’s I Spit on Your Grave. That’s right folk, we’re talking about ‘Torture Porn’, an exploitation horror subgenre known for its nasty, gory, and violent films. Do a quick Google search for the sub-genre, preferably with safe-search activated if you’re at work or Uni, just in case, and you’ll more than likely find several Top 10 lists of the best...

Peter Jackson has had a long and successful career that has earned him three Academy Awards, including Best Director in 2004 for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He's made 14 feature-length films and has directed several popular documentaries, including the highly praised The Beatles: Get Back. Many associate him with his big-budget studio projects like The Lord of the Rings, or King Kong, but it was his earlier career-making splatter comedies in New Zealand that started his career and gave reason to call him the king of gore.

These movies were made with passion, fun, and often homemade props and camera rigs. They may not have made the same level of money, or carry the same level of prestige, but these are the types of movies that Peter Jackson should return to someday. This is why Peter Jackson needs to return to the horror genre.

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Every year, horror fans and aficionados attempt to take on the daunting task of watching a horror movie for each day in the month of October. Aptly named 31 Days of Horror, the challenge usually consists of viewers watching a mixture of their favorite classics, recent releases, and popular genre staples that may be new to them. In celebration of the spooky season, we at MovieWeb have curated our own suggestions for the month, providing a plethora of favorites from our contributing writers and editors. Check out our 31 Days of Horror posts every day this October, and embrace all the freaky found footage, vicious vampires, and stalking slashers you could ever hope for. Today, we kick off Day Five of MovieWeb's 31 Days of Horror with the lesser-known and massively underrated zombie movie, Dead Alive.

After the triumphant comeback of the Evil Dead franchise that debuted earlier this year, it's been proven...

Horror has long been a jumping-off point for big studio directors. Sam Raimi made the "Evil Dead" films before he got "Spider-Man." Peter Jackson made one of the bloodiest films ever filmed with "Braindead" (aka "Dead Alive" for us Americans) and then did "The Lord of the Rings." This is a trend that continues to this day. James Gunn is one of the most powerful directors and producers in the business right now and he got his start with Troma! 

Then we have James Wan, who transformed the horror cycle twice in the last 20 years. First with "Saw" in 2004, which kicked off a short-lived, but prolific movement of "torture porn" horror, and then with "Insidious" and "The Conjuring" in 2010 and 2013, respectively. We're still living in the ripples of those two movies which have spawned franchises in their own right as well as pulled supernatural horror back into the mainstream.

Wan...

Freddy vs. Jason underwent multiple script changes and had potential storylines that included Freddy molesting Jason as a child and Jason going to trial for his crimes. Filmmakers like Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro were offered the chance to direct the film but declined due to other commitments and negative experiences. The original ending featured a crossover with Pinhead from Hellraiser, but the idea was scrapped due to the difficulty of acquiring rights from a competing studio. Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash was also planned as a sequel but never made it to the big screen.

Content Warning: This article contains references to child molestation.

Before Freddy vs. Jason finally made it to the screen, the producers were pitched a wide variety of bizarre, outlandish takes on the premise that would’ve been a lot wilder than the final product. Freddy vs. Jason sees Freddy Krueger of the A Nightmare on Elm Street...

Talk to Me has garnered nearly unanimous praise since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, even going on to win big at the Fantasia International Film Festival just this week. Now, Talk to Me has earned some major backing from yet another Oscar winner, with New Zealand native praising the Australian horror film.

Speaking with Ahi Films (via Newshub) – a distributor of the film – Peter Jackson said that Talk to Me is “relentlessly scary and disturbing – in the best possible way”, adding that it “isn’t just good – it’s very very good. The best, most intense, horror movie I’ve enjoyed in years.” That’s some high praise for a guy that started off his career with two of the most relentless horror movies of their era, Bad Taste and Braindead (aka Dead Alive). While Talk to Me leans more supernatural than, say, lawnmower bloodbath,...

Sure, many film fans might know Peter Jackson best from his time directing numerous ‘Lord of the Rings’ films. But if you’re a fan of his earlier work (such as “Braindead” and “Bad Taste“), you know Jackson got his start in the horror genre and knows a thing or two about creative scares. So, when the filmmaker is outspoken about a new horror film, fans should heed his words.

Continue reading ‘Talk To Me’: Peter Jackson Calls Breakout Horror Film “The Best, Most Intense Horror Movie” He’s Seen In Years at The Playlist.

Sir Peter Jackson, the award-winning filmmaker behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy, praises the horror film Talk to Me. Talk to Me is one of the best horror flicks Jackson has seen in years, according to his statement to the film's distributors. A24's Talk to Me has been a successful outing, and a sequel, Talk 2 Me, has already been announced.

We can add Sir Peter Jackson to the growing list of Talk to Me fans. The three time Academy-Award winning filmmaker, best known for his work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy, had high praise for the A24 horror outing. In a statement to Ahi, one of the film's distributors, acquired by Newshub, Jackson said Talk to Me was "relentlessly scary and disturbing - in the best possible way." What's more, Jackson said that supernatural film was one of the best horror...

Peter Jackson praised A24's horror film Talk To Me as "relentlessly scary and disturbing - in the best possible way." Jackson, known for his earlier horror films like Bad Taste and Braindead, appreciates Talk To Me's gripping intensity and simplicity. The acclaim from Jackson and other notable directors solidifies Talk To Me's status as a high-quality horror film with potential for continued success.

Peter Jackson, the famous 61-year-old New Zealand director, recently revealed in a statement that he thoroughly enjoyed A24's latest horror movie Talk To Me. Directed by YouTube stars Danny and Michael Philippou (their directorial debut), Talk To Me stars fast-rising Australian actres Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, among others, and it follows a group of Aussie teens who discover how to conjure spirits using a mysterious embalmed hand. The group becomes obsessed with this new thrill of communing with the dead, until...

A24’s newest horror thriller Talk to Me has received high praise from The Lord of the Rings trilogy director Peter Jackson.

In a statement to Ahi Films via Newshub, Jackson shared that he really enjoyed watching Talk to Me, which he described as "relentlessly scary and disturbing - in the best possible way." The New Zealand filmmaker is no stranger to the horror genre since one of his earliest directorial features was 1992’s zombie comedy splatter movie, Braindead. "Talk To Me isn't just good - it's very very good. The best, most intense, horror movie I've enjoyed in years," Jackson said.

Related: Interview: Talk To Me's Danny and Michael Philippou Discuss YouTube, Co-Directing, and Twin Telepathy

Since its Sundance premiere and theatrical release, Talk to Me has already set a major box office record for A24 with a worldwide gross of over $36 million at the box office against...