This... is a Nightmare.

Gaze upon Oliver Barrett's bars-appropriating poster for GREEN ROOM, a film that, in the current political climate, has suddenly become worryingly relevant... and quite cathartic to rewatch.

Anton Yelchin

Today's news that the young Russian/American actor has been killed in a tragic accident is heartbreaking. Of all the many obituaries that I've posted on this blog, the 27-year-old Yelchin is the youngest by decades. He made a terrific Pavel Chekov. He held his own among heavyweights Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston in Only Lovers Left Alive. But I'll always remember him most fondly as Pat in this year's horror masterpiece Green Room.

Green Room BTS

More Green Room, this time some juicy behind the scenes stuff.

This is a great collection of candid shots taken on the set by production assistant Bryan Tosh. You get a closeup look at some of the film's meticulous set dressing, sound capture and filming during the gig sequence, a feel for day-to-day life on set... and a baby lemur brought in by the dog handlers (the look on Macon Blair's face is priceless).

GREEN ROOM gore FX + more art!

Having now finally seen it, I can join the army of fans who are noisily vouching for Green Room's unassailable radness. Believe the hype, Jeremy Saulnier has crafted an exceptional horror movie that's as uniquely original as it is uncompromisingly brutal. By turns tense, upsetting, terrifying, quiet, thought-provoking and sad, the film works because it's grounded in a realism that only someone who has spent time in the punk scene could pull off.

However make no mistake, for all its realism Green Room is a fantasy, an alternate universe version of the hardcore scene, but it's a highly believable fantasy made by a punk for other punks to dive into and relish. Crucial to the achievement of that veracity is Saulnier's understated and subtle screenplay, and every performance in the film follows suit. Production design is spot on, everything from the Ain't Rights' van to the interior of the skinhead club has a dingy, lived in feel that doesn't feel faked. And much to my personal amusement, there's a kind of naive old-school quality to Saulnier's worldbuilding, with many of the references belonging to my generation - Dead Kennedys, Cro-Mags, Minor Threat, Fear, The Damned etc. 

I'm going out to see it for a second time today. If you haven't already, get out there and experience this relentless, intelligent and artful horror masterpiece on the big screen for yourself.

There's your review. Now for the goodies.

An absolutely killer alternate poster by Jason Cryer

A nice illustration by comic artist Cameron Stewart

Another cool tribute, this one from Neal Anderson

Poster for a screening in Brixton, London

That was the entree, now for the MEAT. This is major SPOILER territory. If you haven't seen the film yet, stop and come back when you have!

Green Room features some of the gnarliest, most realistic practical gore effects I've ever seen. The grue (and one vicious looking pitbull puppet) was supplied by a studio called Prosthetic Renaissance Inc, headed up by one Mike Marino, and his history of working with the likes of Rob Bottin and Rick Baker is clearly evident in the nauseating details of his work. The following gallery is made up of makeup tests and final effects seen in the movie. Enjoy!

GREEN ROOM OST

The complete soundtrack for Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room is now streaming on Spotify. Have a listen below. You get all of Brooke and Will Blair's score, some tracks from Corpus Rottus, Midnight, Hochstedder, Battletorn, Patsy's Rats, CCR(!), and finally four tracks from Green Room's unfortunate punk band, the Ain't Rights (that's actually not a bad cover of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off"). Not enough for ya? Then scroll down and take a look at some alternate art that's cropped up online recently (the last one is weirdly coincidental after yesterday's post).

An Aussie release date has finally been confirmed, and I've got my tickets for opening night next week (that's Wednesday 11th at Dendy Newtown for my fellow Sydneysiders). Fuck yes!

GREEN ROOM Update

According to local distributor Rialto, Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room opens here on the 28th (and this week stateside, you lucky bastards). Oddly, there's no listing for it yet on the Classification Board's website (our equivalent of the MPAA and BBFC), not even for a trailer. It's also conspicuously absent from the upcoming release schedule of the theatre chain that's meant to be carrying it (Event Cinemas). This leads me to wonder if it might have run into trouble with our censors, but as it hasn't anywhere else in the world (that I know of) I'm sure there's no reason for concern.

While we count down the final days to Green Room's release, here's some goodies to tide you over. And don't let my snarky comments fool you, this is probably my most anticipated movie of 2016!

I've found Green Room's poster campaign to be less than compelling, a disappointment after Blue Ruin's beautiful one sheets by Akiko Stehrenberger and Erik Buckham. That said, it does make me smile to see Pavel Chekov in a Minor Threat t-shirt.

For my money, this Thai poster is the best of the bunch. It doesn't fuck around. It is an odd choice to put a pentagram on that door though. If it was a swastika it would have been perfect:

These comic art style posters are weird. Why the ESRB (video game) ratings? Rated Gruesome for thrash metal and Patrick Stewart is a nice touch though:

Hey, US teaser poster, 1999 called and wants its shitty looking extruded text back! A shame, because this is otherwise a great design:

I don't mind the US one sheet. Patrick Stewart looks mean, and the quote is ominous and chilling:

Hey, French poster, 1977 called and Jamie Reid wants his typography back!

Here's a cool mock flyer for the Ain't Right's fateful show. I think this was done for the Leeds International Film Fest:

Here's a couple of moody, Carpenter-esque cues from Brooke and Will Blair's score. These two brothers have scored all of Saulnier's films to date. A bit of trivia: Macon Blair - who played Dwight in Blue Ruin and also appears in Murder Party and Green Room - is the third Blair brother in the Saulnier production team. These tracks are excellent, and you can listen to a few more here.

Here's a track from the Ain't Rights, the fictional band at the heart of the film's story. The riffs are passable, even if the lyrics are as dumb as a bag of hammers.