spacetime coordinates: Toronto, winter of 2008
Splice is a 2009 science fiction horror film, Canadian French co-production, directed by Vincenzo Natali and starring Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, and Delphine Chanéac. The story concerns experiments in genetic engineering being done by a young scientific couple, who attempt to introduce human DNA into their work of splicing animal genes. (wiki)
spacetime coordinates: 2020’s Second World seaside country of Li Tolqa
Infinity Pool is a 2023 (Canada-Croatia-Hungary coproduction) science fiction horror film written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg, starring Alexander Skarsgård, Mia Goth, and Cleopatra Coleman. The film follows a struggling writer and his wife on vacation who, after an accident, discover the country’s dark culture. (wiki)
spacetime coordinates: 1926 – 1932 Los Angeles
Babylon is a 2022 American epic period comedy drama film written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It features an ensemble cast including Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo and Li Jun Li. It chronicles the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood‘s transition from silent to sound films in the late 1920s. (wiki)
spacetime coordinates: 1996. Christmas season at a truck stop in Montana
A seemingly naïve and devout young woman finds her way in the underground world of truck stop sex workers a.k.a. “lot lizards.”
Candy Land is a 2021 americana horror film directed by John Swab. The film stars Sam Quartin, Eden Brolin, Virginia Rand, Owen Campbell, Guinevere Turner, Olivia Luccardi and William Baldwin.
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spacetime coordinates: 1918 Texas, during the influenza pandemic
Pearl (subtitled An X-traordinary Origin Story) is a 2022 psychological slasher film directed by Ti West, co-written by West and Mia Goth, who stars as the title character, and featuring David Corenswet, Tandi Wright, Matthew Sunderland, and Emma Jenkins-Purro in supporting roles. A prequel to X (2022), and second installment overall in the X film series, it serves as an origin story for the titular villain whose fervent aspirations to become a movie star lead her to committing violent acts on her family’s Texas homestead.
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spacetime coordinates: 1979 Texas
X is a 2022 slasher film written, directed, produced and edited by Ti West. It stars Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Martin Henderson, Brittany Snow, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, and Scott Mescudi. The film’s plot follows a cast and crew who gather to make a pornographic film on an elderly couple’s rural Texas property, but find themselves threatened by an unlikely killer.
Nate Roscoe of Fangoria wrote in an essay on the film that X exemplifies a modern take on the psycho-biddy horror subgenre, in which aging or elderly women portray grotesque, violent characters. Roscoe also notes that the film’s primary theme revolves around aging, youth, and longing over the past. “Snatching its inspo from the shadiest recesses of art and exploitation, it is the relationship between beauty, aging and self-worth that creeps most conspicuously through the architecture of X.” He also notes that the film presents its antagonist—the murderous Pearl—in a manner that is sympathetic, writing that, at moments, “one can’t help but feel crushingly sorry for this tragic figure.”
West stated that he had pitched his idea of a new franchise to A24 and had been surprised when they green-lit his projects. The filmmaker stated that he intends each film to have its own distinct style and genre of horror. Describing his approach to each movie, he stated that X was heavily influenced by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and by the works of Mario Bava, which explore how the rise of independent filmmaking affected society, while Pearl will be a melodrama meets the Technicolor style of Mary Poppins and The Wizard of Oz, made as a “demented Disney movie” and based on the works of Douglas Sirk, and will explore how Hollywood filmmaking has influenced people. West stated that he intends to continue this trend of exploring diverse styles and genres in future installments.
Crimes of the Future is a 2022 science-fiction body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg, and starring Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart.
Although it shares a title with Cronenberg’s 1970 film of the same name, it is not a remake as the story and concept are unrelated. It marks Cronenberg’s return to the science fiction and horror genres for the first time since eXistenZ (1999). The film was an international co-production of Canadian, French, British and Greek companies. (wiki)
TimeSpace Warps 