Leslie Vernon Rises From the Grave!

If you've been visiting MNPP since its early days... good grief we're all so old now right? Wait that wasn't the point I was making. My point is I started this site in 2005 (good lord) and in 2006 a little meta-horror flick called Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon came out, and I was obsessed. I wrote about it a ton. I have the action figure; I have the poster. (And here is my original review.) Its hottie leading man Nathan Baesel even has a tag here on the site -- one that hasn't been added to in a decade, which was the last time I whined about wanting a sequel. 

Well here it is twenty years after that film dropped and at a screening this week to celebrate that milestone the film's director Scott Glosserman dropped the news that we are in fact now getting a sequel! And everyone involved is returning! Holy shit! I really thought this day had passed. Not to be rude but Glosserman somehow turned the hot buzz off of the original into a whole lot of nothing -- he made a horror movie in 2011 called The Truth Below that went nowhere (I don't remember hearing anything about it) and that was all she wrote on his career. 

I haven't actually sat down and watched Leslie Vernon in a very very long time, but weirdly, a couple times over the past couple of years, it's popped into my head and I've been thinking about revisiting -- well here's the nudge I needed. If you don't remember what it's about or if, hell some of you weren't even born when this movie came out, good grief -- the movie tells the story of a journalist named Taylor (Angela Goethals) who decides to make a documentary where she follows the titular slasher killer Leslie (Baesel) on his stalking and killing rounds. Obviously this project is a doomed one. It's very good, or at least I remember it being very good -- we'll have to see how it's aged. But I remember both of the leads being really solid and it being genuinely unsettling. Anybody watch it recently?

Five Frames From ?

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Sufjan Turns Water Sports Into Poetry

No the above image is unfortunaely not the cover of a new Sufjan Stevens album -- god, imagine! That would make my millennium. No, this is new old news instead -- via Stereogum comes the story that apparently when Sufjan was in college at the New School in the 90s he wrote a little chapbook of poetry that included poems he wrote every time he had to pee, alongside a photo of the place he peed. This came via a person who knew him in college and is now a professor at Penn State -- he showed the book to his students and obviously, they took this wonderful news to the internet to share lightning quick. There are more images at the link up top but I think the one below really sets the scene best. This is so him. He needs to reprint this book immediately. I know I'd rather die than let anyone read all the poetry I wrote in college (did y'all know I graduated with a Minor in Poetry? Can't you tell from my exceptional use of da English language?) but this is something different. This is History!

Good Morning, World

Russell Tovey should feel flattered this morning... I mean he probably should feel flattered every morning because a lot of gay men just spent their night having dirty dreams about him. But specifically he should feel flattered this morning because last night I posted a couple of these photos from Behind the Blinds magazine on Bluesky convinced they were leftovers from his 2022 photoshoot for BTB mag (posted here). In other words I apparently think he hasn't aged a day in four years. 

That's nothing to spit at, Russ! I think I've aged about fifty years in the past four but I'm not holding it against me -- it's the goddamned world. It's a conspiracy! Anyway so yeah they are indeed new photos (via) and this behind Behind the Blinds magazine there will surely be dozens more to drop before we're done but today, this Friday, this morning, we're posting what we have. Hit the jump for that...

The Real Snuff

For some reason when my cousin and I were scouring the horror aisle at the video-store in my teen years we never bothered to rent the original Faces of Death -- probably because it clearly didn't have any sexy naked people, which is why we kept watching the same Slashers over and over again after all. But I was legitimately afraid of its VHS box too, and even though I now know it was all a bunch of hooey, that legacy of the forbidden remains attached to its title. And director Daniel Goldhaber and writer Isa Mazzei (of the fantastic Cam) have done a solid job embracing and expanding that with their... it's not a remake. Reboot, I suppose. Set in a world like ours where the Faces of Death video haunted a generation, Faces of Death (2026 Edition) introduces a serial killer (Stranger Things' Dacre Montgomery) who's viciously reenacting the original's seedy tableaus to gain viral social-media fame. And it's up to a content moderator named Margot (Barbie Ferreira) to track him down and press permanant pause on his reign of cyber-terror! 

Anyway the very real gig where a person watches "content" all day long to flag the worst offenders has been sitting around for several years now outright begging for this treatment -- this movie would make a perfect double-feature with Prano Bailey-Bond's killer 2021 film Censor, which did the 1980s "Video Nasties" version of the same thing (and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the original Faces of Death got name-checked in that). And the team of Goldhaber & Mazzei do make some murderous magic of it, tapping into the very real social-media sickness that's saturated our culture, anesthetizing us to real horror. The film's at its best when its staring into the dead eyes of the normies who don't give a shit about violence for whatever reason, be they benefitting from its monetization or simply part of the parade of empathy husks now found on every corner. 

The actual stuff with Montgomery though, who goes way over the top, is a little less successful -- okay we get it Dacre, you watched Manhunter, you watched Dahmer; maybe dial it down a notch or two. This movie has stellar vibes that all his shrieking keeps swallowing up. As for Ferreira she makes for a likeable presence that we're rooting for. Even if the movie vacillates wildly between her character having superpowered MacGyver-like skills when it needs her to (the way she manages to break out of the killer's cage after being there for all of five seconds while the people who've been locked up for weeks look on -- if I'd been one of them I would've told her to fuck right off) while then having her acting dumb as a box of rocks when the movie needs that. In that same vein this whole new Faces of Death endeavor is both sloppier than necessary while also being smarter than it had any right for. You should be pleasantly surprised, even if your groans sometimes get the better of you. (Although a few points knocked off for Yet Another Dead Gay in a year of too many of those. I would just prefer not, y'all.)

Pics of the Day

I know it's unsporting of me to be such a little bitch about it but looking at the Cannes line-up every year depresses me, knowing I will never go to there, and so often I just ignore it totally. I mostly like to know about the movies that are right in front of me, ready for consumption, because I am desperately impatient and also -- once I know what the movies are I try to immediately forget everything I know so when I do sit down to watch them I can see them with the freshest eyes possible. It's not the wisest way to play things for a person who's posting about movies all day every day but I don't think any of you picture me first, second, or five-hundredth when the word "wise" comes up. 

Anyway! The Cannes 2026 line-up did indeed drop today and I couldn't help myself for some reason this year, I looked. And now I'm annoyed. But a couple of images from this year's line-up grabbed my eye and felt like they deserved a post, and here we are -- up top that's the first image of Rami Malek in Ira Sachs' new movie, an 80s-set musical called The Man I Love that is about the AIDS epidemic. Ira Sachs has never made a movie I haven't liked and he's given me no reason to date to not trust him but my god that Team-America-adjacent description, and the fact that the movie stars the man who spat on Freddie Mercury's memory and was handed an Oscar for it in turn, gives me some pause! But I want it to be good so I'll shut up. And then down below is a shot of Exxxtreme Frenchies Vincent Cassel & Pierre Niney in Asghar Farhadi's new film Parallel Tales, which also stars the extraordinary gallic triumverate of Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, and one Catherine fuckin' Deneuve. High hopes, then! We'll pretend we're not filled with hate and just be hopeful. What from the line-up grabbed your eye? 

Charles Melton Ten (Plus) Times

The second season of Beef had its premiere last night (click here to see some photos of Oscar Isaac and our half-naked boy here on the red carpet) and Charles Melton is not letting this moment get by without dropping a bomb of LOOK AT ME on us all -- this photoshoot for i-D magazine that just dropped this morning...

... practically knocked me off my chair, it did! I'll have things to say about Beef next week when it premieres (on April 16th) since I've already watched the entire thing but for now I'm just shutting up and letting these fiery fucking photos do the talking. Hit the jump for 'em all...

Five Frames From ?

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Good Morning, World

Our beloved French superstar Jean-Paul Belmondo would've been celebrating his 93rd birthday today if he hadn't passed in 2021 (I can't believe it's been that long honestly -- feels like it was last year) so here are a couple of photos of him back in his mid-century prime that I don't believe I've ever posted before with which we can celebrate. And of course if you dig down through our archives you can find many many many more treats with which to do the same. I'm particularly fond of this one myself. Oh Jean-Paul we miss you. What movie of his would you watch to celebrate with?

Chace Crawford Twelve Times

You'd think after decades of being a pretty hairy brunette boy in the acting business that Chace Crawford would have eked out a tag here on MNPP, but he's had the misfortune of always starring in things I ignored -- first there was Gossip Girl (where Penn Bedgley stole the hairiest boy award away from him) and then there was The Boys which I just haven't gotten around to even though I feel fairly sure I'd like it. It's not like we've never ogled Chace -- a search of his name in our archives brings up a ton -- he just never really seized onto my imagination among other options that did. I suppose that explains his career, in a microcosm sorta way! I'm surprised he's still around if I'm being honest, but good for him that he is! And looking very handsome today in Numero Netherlands magazine too. (Although we could've used more shots of the red shorts, Chace!) Hit the jump for the entire shoot...

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

 ... you can learn from:

Synonyms (2019)

Yoav: I moved to France to flee Israel. Flee a state that is nasty, obscene, ignorant, idiotic, sordid, fetid, crude, abominable, odious, lamentable, repugnant,
detestable, mean-spirited, mean-hearted... 

Emile: No country is all that at once.

Today is the 51st birthday of the rightfully outraged Israeli ex-pat filmmaker Nadav Lapid, who's weaponized his filmmaking to dissect the horrors of his homeland making one furious masterpiece after another. This includes the brilliant film above as well as 2014's The Kindergarten Teacher, 2021's Ahed's Knee, and the just-recently-released here in the U.S. film Yes. And speaking of Yes I am rather furious at myself for not reviewing that movie because I found it a total stunner, so let's throw down some words about it since the ocassion's presented itself. (I already shared the trailer right here.)

Yes tells the story of Y (Ariel Bronz) and his wife Yasmin (Efrat Dor) as they party the pain away in Tel Aviv, turning their radios up so they can drown out the sounds of the bombs dropping onto Gaza. He's a musician, she's a dance-instructor, and the two of them routinely hand off their baby son (pointedly named Noah) so they can humiliate themselves every night for the grotesque powers-that-be in order to sustain a living. Lapid gives the Israeli elite the full Beckmann & Dix treament, rendering them hideous to the point where they're literally bending over and waving their assholes in our face. It ain't sublte, nor should it be. 

Since the pair are gorgeous and entertaining and simply good at what they do (i.e. debasing themselves with extreme vigor) Y & Yasmin move pretty easily up the social ladder, until Y finds himself charged with writing a new national anthem for Israel in the wake of the October 7th attacks. For there he's shot through the cannon of a dark night of the soul as he tries to come to terms with his role as propogandist for genocide, but Lapid spares no one his visciousness; everyone is to blame for keeping the broken system afloat. Yes is brutal, brilliant, a ballistic missle shot straight at our insidious self-preservation in the face of so much unspeakable. Its farce is tragedy, all too familiar. All the punchlines are a horror; our laughter curdled, indistinguishable from screams. How au current, if you will. 

Five Frames From ?

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Happy 36 to Twin Peaks!

Tell me your favorite moment or character 

or Twin Peaks something in the coments.

Good Morning, World

I don't know if this is the new issue of GQ's cover-shoot but I sure hope it isn't because there is exactly one exciting picture of Tom Holland at GQ today and you're looking at it there above -- we're grateful for all that gam, believe you me, but when he looks like a CEO's son playing golf with dad in matching beige in every other photo something's gone very wrong! Or probably for Tom's team "right" -- I have a feeling he's being coached to seem boring and safe or for lack of a more precise descriptor straight. I mean nothing particularly pointed by that remark, I don't know his business! But with most of the actors his age being riskier with their choices, both on-screen and fashion-wise, I do believe they've chosen a more middlebrow lane for our current webslinger du jour.  (Whither the "Umbrella" dancer in drag Tom???) But seriously no shade. He's got Zendaya, he's got those legs. Rock your beige! Hit the jump for the entire shoot (or take a Xanax, it'll have the same effect)...

Christopher Abbott One Time

Today's Fanboy Delusion

Today I'd rather be...

... falling head over heels for Billy Magnussen.

Our beloved Billy has a new AMC series called The Audacity coming out and the folks at Entertainment Weekly were kind enough to give him the spotlight for it -- and Billy, being Billy, did what Billy does. (He made us smile while also thinking really filthy thoughts, bless him.) You can read the entire piece about the series at that link but obviously we're focusing in on the photoshoot of our beautiful blond boy; hit the jump for that...

It's Got the Special Sauce

It's really difficult to explain the forthcoming film called Buffet Infinity -- pieced together from local low-budget lo-fi television commercials for a car dealership, a pawn shop, and the restaurant of the film's title which slowly reveals itself to maybe be some sort of portal to hell, this movie is pretty much one of a kind. One of an awesome kind! I saw it at Fantasia last year and it was probably my favorite thing at the entire fest -- here is my review -- so I'm extremely happy to see the news that it's somehow getting an actual release thanks to the fine demented folks at Yellow Veil Pictures. They're saying it'll hit "select" theaters April 24th (I think it's safe to say we're not talking about three thousand screens in every corner of the country though) and then it'll move over to VOD on May 8th. Speaking from experience (having only seen it on a small screen) you'll be fine watching it at home. Below is the freaky trailer which does a good job capturing the vibe without really giving much away -- being a movie that's entirely about the experience of feeling like your mind is unraveling from watching it, I don't know that you could spoil this just through a trailer. It's a rare exception, me saying you'll be fine watching this horror movie trailer! So seize the day, ya buncha bastards!

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Boxing Helena (1993)

Dr. Nick Cavanaugh: If you were a 

real woman,  you'd lie to me about our sex.

A very happy birthday to director Jennifer Lynch today -- I have recently been in mourning for the many many years that I went without this perfectly accursed (complimentary) movie in my life, having only seen it for the first time in 2022. I did get to see it on the big screen in 2024 though (I love living in this city!) and it fully cemented itself as one of my favorite pieces of deranged cinema. I can't even pretend it's just for reasons of camp that I love this movie anymore -- I just love it with my full body and soul. And that's me talking with all of my limbs still attached! But seriously -- if you've never seen Bill Paxton's performance in this movie, you have not lived. Same goes for Julian Sands in the tiniest running shorts ever put on-screen. Same goes for limbless Sherilyn Fenn sipping sweet tea through a straw. Oh my god I have to watch it again right now. Thank you, Jennifer Lynch! 

Five Frames From ?

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An Unspeakable of the Oscar Wilde Sort

I don't have a pre-order link for this yet but I just thought we could all use some good happy positive news this morning to distract from.... gestures wildly, ahem... so here's a tid o' bit: the gay Merchant-Ivory masterpiece Maurice, starring Hugh Grant, James Wilby, and Rupert "Scudder" Graves, is getting a 4K restoration and release this summer! Right now all I've got is the release date of the physical media version -- June 30th. But I'll make sure to share more info once more info arises. There! Hopefully we all smiled for a second. Now back to the real world... hold me, Scudder...