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A car traveling down a lonely road sets the stage for horror expectations, as seen in films like The Shining and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The Royal Hotel, an isolated residence in Australia, fits the conventions of familiar horror scenarios. The film explores the uncomfortable experiences of two American backpackers working as bartenders in a creepy bar filled with suspicious characters.

A car traveling down a lonely road is such a familiar opening for the horror genre that it holds the power to set our expectations instantly. Some of the genre's classics have forged the shot into the annals of horror convention – The Shining, The Evil Dead, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre have all played their parts. The car's destination tends to be an even more common convention – an isolated residence of some description where our characters will meet the horror itself, whatever that is. From that vague description, The Royal Hotel fits right in.

With Hugh Jackman currently negotiating to play Wolverine for a seventh and eighth time, Cinelinx takes a look at actors who’ve played the same role eight times or more. Who has played the same character most often? Come in and find out.

Hugh Jackman has already played Wolverine five times--x-Men (2000), X2: X-Men United (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and The Wolverine (2013)—as well as a cameo in X-Men:First Class (2011). Soon we’ll be seeing him fully clawed again on the big screen in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Recently, he told Collider that he might shoot Wolverine 3 and X-Men: Apocalypse “back-to-back”, which would make a total of eight times (9 times with the cameo) that he’ll portray the Canadian mutant.

You might be thinking “Wow! That’s amazing! I’ve never heard of anyone playing the same role so many times.” Well, for those who may not know it,...

Torchwood: Miracle Day leads the highlights of the UK TV week. But there's room for The Big Bang Theory, and a whole lot of films, too...

We're almost completely dependent on the BBC for new programming heading our way this week. But Channel 4 brings us a return of a series midstream, with episode 13 of season 4 of The Big Bang Theory. Although the nasal whining can get a bit much at times, there's lots of geeky goodness to be found in the show, with guaranteed references to games, shows and films we know well and love. We have a Lazy Geek's Guide here that may help you decide if it's worth the couch commitment, and The Love Car Displacement episode airs tonight, Friday July 8th, at 11:05pm.

It looks like the popularity of X-Men: First Class and Mad Men, among others, has firmly established our recent enjoyment of period drama,...

Being Human, Skins and Outcasts come to an end, Twenty Twelve kicks off, and there's a great selection of movies on UK TV, too...

Although the housemates would shun it, the spotlight of the week has to shine on Being Human, with the final episode of series 3 airing Sunday, March 13th at 9:00pm on BBC3. We had a sneak peek here, where the unphotographable Mitchell is jailed and Annie looks to be keeping to her promise of staying with him, while making him stay put. But there's still The Wolf-Shaped Bullet, the finale's title, to be feared and identified, and the fate of Nina and the rapidly developing werebaby to be found out. After last week's explosive happenings, we're mystified and thrilled to think where it may all end. If you missed any part of the series, you can catch up and comment on our reviews, and meet back...

DVD Playhouse September 2010

By

Allen Gardner

The Girl Who Played With Fire (Music Box Films) Follow up to the hit The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo finds Lisabeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) joining forces once again as Blomkvist is about to break a story on Sweden’s sex trade, which leads unexpectedly to a dark secret from Elizabeth’s past. Starts off well, then quickly nose-dives into sensationalism and downright silliness, with a pair of villains who are straight out of a Roger Moore-era James Bond film. A real letdown for those of us who felt Dragon Tattoo had finally breathed life into the cinema’s long-stagnant genre of the thriller. Bonuses: English language track; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.

The Killer Inside Me (IFC Films) Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Jim Thompson’s classic, and notorious, novel about the psychotic mind of a small town sheriff (Casey Affleck,...

Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the day today is a choice between two Sherlock Holmes collections, each 54% off: Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series 12-dvd set for $96.99, 58% off the $230msrp. Photo seen above. The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection for $59.99, 54% off the $130msrp. The Collection is comprised of all 14 classic films on 5 discs: "The Hound Of The Baskervilles: Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes," "Sherlock Holmes And The Voice Of Terror," "Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon," "Sherlock Holmes In Washington," "Sherlock Holmes Faces Death," "Sherlock Holmes In The Spider Woman," "Sherlock Holmes The Scarlet Claw," "Sherlock Holmes In Pearl Of Death," "Sherlock Holmes House Of Fear," "Sherlock Holmes And The Woman In Green," "Sherlock Holmes Pursuit To Algiers," "Sherlock Holmes Terror By Night," Sherlock Holmes Dressed To Kill." Both deals are only valid until midnight tonight (March 30th 2010). Amazon also has the first four season of the ...