Four new movies release in South Africa this Friday, and following the lead of The Nun II last week, two are from the horror family. Movie studios are clearly getting in the Halloween spirit early. Fortunately, if scary movies aren’t your thing, there’s a sports anime and homegrown animated adventure out too.
The most high profile of this week’s new releases is A Haunting in Venice, the third film in Kenneth Branagh’s all-star series of Hercule Poirot movies (which includes Murder on the Orient Express, and Death on the Nile). Based on one of Agatha Christie’s lesser read murder mysteries, A Haunting in Venice adds more supernatural elements to the whodunnit mix. A retired Poirot (Branagh) reluctantly attends a seance at a haunted palazzo in Venice, Italy, but when one of the guests is murdered, the former detective must uncover the killer. The cast of A Haunting in Venice includes Camille Cottin, Jamie Dornan, Tina Fey and Michelle Yeoh.
Read our full review of this one here.
While A Haunting in Venice promises some chills, things get outright disturbing in Talk To Me. This indie Australian effort is one of the breakout genre hits of 2023, and has become the most profitable horror film released in the US under the A24 banner. When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill, until one of them goes too far and opens the door to the spirit world. Sophie Wilde and Joe Bird head up the cast, with Miranda Otto appearing as a familiar face.
Made in South Africa by Luma Animation and The Ergo Company, Headspace is a CGI-animated action adventure with a sci-fi theme. It all starts when microscopic aliens take up residence inside 14-year-old Norman’s brain. They can see what he can see, and hear what he can hear. Human and crime-fighting extra-terrestrials must join forces when evil intergalactic villain Zolthard arrives on Earth, and finds himself stuck in the head of Norman’s school principal. What commences is a battle to save the planet… while Norman and his friends still have homework to hand in.
Also animated, but all the way from Japan, is anime The First Slam Dunk. Having initially released in its home country in December last year, this sports drama centres on 17-year-old Ryota Miyagi, who, after losing his older brother, takes up the older boy’s dream to become a basketball star. Ryota and his teammates Hanamichi Sakuragi, Takenori Akagi, Hisashi Mitsui, and Kaede Rukawa challenge the inter-high basketball champions, Sannoh Kogyo High School. Catch The First Slam Dunk at select Ster Kinekor cinemas.