Sometimes a movie just does not have any reason to exist. That would be the case with Shawn Christensen‘s misbegotten Sidney Hall, a film which offers a mystery that never feels mysterious, falls so flat one is bewildered as to why and how such a project could even be green lit.
Squandering a fine class of young talent, which includes Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning, the drama is tediously realized on page by screenwriter Jason Dolan and director Shawn Christensen (Before I Disappear), who appears to be game with stylish visual decisions, but can’t find a way to get the audience engaged.
The film begins with its titular character, Sidney (Lerman), reading aloud to the class an essay that ends up being a masturbatory fantasy about a cheerleader. The conservative teacher, who asked for an essay on the meaning of life, is obviously appalled. A particularly questionable decision...
Squandering a fine class of young talent, which includes Logan Lerman and Elle Fanning, the drama is tediously realized on page by screenwriter Jason Dolan and director Shawn Christensen (Before I Disappear), who appears to be game with stylish visual decisions, but can’t find a way to get the audience engaged.
The film begins with its titular character, Sidney (Lerman), reading aloud to the class an essay that ends up being a masturbatory fantasy about a cheerleader. The conservative teacher, who asked for an essay on the meaning of life, is obviously appalled. A particularly questionable decision...
- 1/26/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Stars: Katherine Waterston, Scott Eastwood, Sara Paxton, Shaun Sipos, Christopher Denham, Jesse Perez, Leigh Lezark, Vic Finalborgo | Written by Shawn Christensen, Jason Dolan | Directed by Jack Heller
Three strangers find themselves lost in a strange forest. Stuck together in the same cabin with supplies and heat scarce, they try to figure a way out of their situation. As they begin to learn more about each other, secrets are revealed and they find that they may be all connected in more ways than they realised. As the mystery grows about their situation, they find there is no way to escape their cabin in the woods, and that they might not be as alone as they first thought…
The Haunting of Black Wood (aka Enter Nowhere) is a mystery film that will keep you guessing right until the end. This film is definitely in the same vein as Cabin in the Woods,...
Three strangers find themselves lost in a strange forest. Stuck together in the same cabin with supplies and heat scarce, they try to figure a way out of their situation. As they begin to learn more about each other, secrets are revealed and they find that they may be all connected in more ways than they realised. As the mystery grows about their situation, they find there is no way to escape their cabin in the woods, and that they might not be as alone as they first thought…
The Haunting of Black Wood (aka Enter Nowhere) is a mystery film that will keep you guessing right until the end. This film is definitely in the same vein as Cabin in the Woods,...
- 12/21/2014
- by Richard Axtell
- Nerdly
Jason Dolan has been tapped to direct the experimental feature film and social media project "Bloodloss," from his own script, for the management production companies Benderspink, Caliber Media Co. and Simplicity Media, Benderspink's Jc Spink told TheWrap. "Bloodloss" focuses on a documentary television producer as she investigates her sister's sudden disappearance into an underground culture of self-proclaimed "vampires" in Los Angeles. Jeffrey Potts wrote the original draft. The feature narrative will be made up of faux-documentary scenes, relying on a combination of actors and real-life participants who live the vampire lifestyle, including...
- 8/22/2012
- by Liza Foreman
- The Wrap
Director: Jack Heller. Writer: Shawn Christensen and Jason Dolan. Cast: Sara Paxton, Scott Eastwood, Shaun Sipos, and Katherine Waterston. Reviewing a mystery requires delicacy. To reveal too much ruins the story for viewers unfamiliar with the film. So, this review for Enter Nowhere will dance about the major plot points while discussing the quality of Jack Heller's first feature. Enter Nowhere is a film that deals with time travel and freedom of choice. We all create our futures, this small film would tell us. This is most apparent when characters alter their behaviours to create for a better tomorrow. The final scene wraps the film up too neatly, but Enter Nowhere is an enjoyable time spent with a Twilight Zone-esque storyline. Both television series for "The Twilight Zone" (1959, 1985) dealt with unbelievable sci-fi circumstances and strange places. In "The Time Element" (1958) one character could travel back and forward in time.
- 7/15/2012
- by noreply@blogger.com (Michael Allen)
- 28 Days Later Analysis
The Man From Nowhere is the latest South Korean thrillers to get a remake. Deadline reports that Dimension Films has acquired remake rights from Cj Entertainment. Shawn Christensen has been hired after Harvey Weinstein read his spec script for Abduction.
Lee Jeong-beom directed the original film, which follows "a quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past who takes on a drug- and organ-trafficking ring to save the child who is his only friend." It opened at No. 1 at the Korean box office in August 2010 and held the top spot for five weeks in a row, becoming that year’s highest-grossing Korean film.
Christensen co-wrote Enter Nowhere with Jason Dolan, which is being released by Lionsgate. He also penned the Black List spec for Karma Coalition, which sold to Warner Bros.
I am not sure how I feel about this remake, as the original is simply amazing. If you have not seen this film,...
Lee Jeong-beom directed the original film, which follows "a quiet pawnshop keeper with a violent past who takes on a drug- and organ-trafficking ring to save the child who is his only friend." It opened at No. 1 at the Korean box office in August 2010 and held the top spot for five weeks in a row, becoming that year’s highest-grossing Korean film.
Christensen co-wrote Enter Nowhere with Jason Dolan, which is being released by Lionsgate. He also penned the Black List spec for Karma Coalition, which sold to Warner Bros.
I am not sure how I feel about this remake, as the original is simply amazing. If you have not seen this film,...
- 3/10/2012
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Arriving on DVD April 3 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment is the new cabin in the woods thriller Enter Nowhere (special feature), which stars Sara Paxton (The Inkeepers, The Briar Lake Murders, Shark Night 3D), Scott Eastwood (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D) and Katherine Waterson (The Factory). Directed by Jack Heller, with a script by Shawn Christensen (Abduction) and Jason Dolan, "Three strangers arrive one by one at a cabin in the middle of the woods. Searching for a way out while fighting the elements and hunger, the trio realizes they have been brought together intentionally. Their connection to one another may be their only chance to get out of the woods alive." Enter Nowhere will be presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, plus the "Enter at Your Own Risk: Behind the Scenes of Enter NoWhere" featurette.
- 2/2/2012
- bloody-disgusting.com
Coverage of this year's Screamfest La Film Festival continues with Dread Central's event report for Thursday, October 20th, and Friday, October 21st, when we hit the carpet to bring you more photos and caught the premieres of Jack Heller’s feature film Enter Nowhere (Night #7) and of Ryan Schifrin’s No Rest for the Wicked, The Little Mermaid, Infected, and more. (Night #8).
(Editor's Note: In case you're wondering what happened to Night #6, the filmmakers of Livid, the major premiere of that evening, were not in attendance so we opted to give SeanD. a night off of coverage as well. Considering that he's practically been living at the Manns Chinese 6 during Screamfest La's 2011 run, we'd say he certainly deserved it!)
Those walking the black carpet on the 20th and in attendance for the seventh evening of the fest included Enter Nowhere director Heller, writers Shawn Christensen and Jason Dolan, producers Dallas Sonnier and Robert Crippen,...
(Editor's Note: In case you're wondering what happened to Night #6, the filmmakers of Livid, the major premiere of that evening, were not in attendance so we opted to give SeanD. a night off of coverage as well. Considering that he's practically been living at the Manns Chinese 6 during Screamfest La's 2011 run, we'd say he certainly deserved it!)
Those walking the black carpet on the 20th and in attendance for the seventh evening of the fest included Enter Nowhere director Heller, writers Shawn Christensen and Jason Dolan, producers Dallas Sonnier and Robert Crippen,...
- 10/23/2011
- by SeanD.
- DreadCentral.com
Grindstone Entertainment and Lionsgate have acquired North American distribution rights to director Jack Heller’s horror flick “Enter Nowhere”, which will be making its premiere next month at ScreamFest in Los Angeles. The film stars “Shark Night’s” Sara Paxton, along with Scott Eastwood, Shaun Sipos, and Kathryn Waterston, and “tells of four strangers who find themselves stranded in a mysterious forest. The strangers seek shelter in an abandoned cabin and must learn to trust one another and work together to find a way out of the woods.” Here’s hoping it’s not all in their minds or that they’re actually trapped in purgatory or something stupid like that. Heller, who is making his feature film directorial debut on “Enter Nowhere”, directed the film from a script by Shawn Christensen and Jason Dolan...
- 9/13/2011
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
Back in May Bloody-Disgusting was invited to the first-ever screening of director Jack Heller's independently-produced mystery/thriller Enter Nowhere, about three strangers who find themselves stranded at a remote cabin in the middle of the woods and must learn who or what has brought them together and for what purpose. The film, which is akin to mind-bending genre fare like Lost and The Twilight Zone, was penned by writing team Shawn Christensen and Jason Dolan and stars Scott Eastwood (Clint's son!), Katherine Waterston and Sara Paxton (The Last House on the Left). Though the film is currently still in search of distribution at this time, I recently chatted with Heller already a successful Hollywood producer and manager who made his directorial debut with the project to pick his brain on how the production came together...
- 6/22/2011
- bloody-disgusting.com
Lautner to star and co-produce film about a man who discovers himself on a missing persons site.
By Adam Rosenberg
Taylor Lautner
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic
Taylor Lautner has been lining up a lot of work lately, landing the lead roles in the big-screen adaptation of the TV show "Max Steel" and the effort to bring the action figure Stretch Armstrong to the big screen. Now he's ready to go missing. Lionsgate has bought the script for the thriller "Abduction" and cast the "Twilight" star as a young man who sees his baby picture on a missing persons Web site.
Lionsgate picked up the project after a week-long bidding war for Shawn Christensen's spec script. Variety reports that the studio paid a sum in the "high six figures" for the script, which the studio will co-produce with Gotham Group, Vertigo Entertainment and Lautner's production company Tailor Made.
Christensen has...
By Adam Rosenberg
Taylor Lautner
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic
Taylor Lautner has been lining up a lot of work lately, landing the lead roles in the big-screen adaptation of the TV show "Max Steel" and the effort to bring the action figure Stretch Armstrong to the big screen. Now he's ready to go missing. Lionsgate has bought the script for the thriller "Abduction" and cast the "Twilight" star as a young man who sees his baby picture on a missing persons Web site.
Lionsgate picked up the project after a week-long bidding war for Shawn Christensen's spec script. Variety reports that the studio paid a sum in the "high six figures" for the script, which the studio will co-produce with Gotham Group, Vertigo Entertainment and Lautner's production company Tailor Made.
Christensen has...
- 2/22/2010
- MTV Movie News
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