Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Lots stuff from the Lionsgate panel, so let's not dilly dally.

SKINWALKERS

First up was Stan Winston and director Jim Isaac with SKINWALKERS, a werewolf flick. They showed a clip and had a brief talk.

The clip started off with two people, a man and a woman, being strung up in a bizarre looking bondage-ish contraptions. Not black leather, but more straight-jackety things, with lines attached to the rafters (they were obviously in a basement) to hold them up. The lights flicker out and the guy who was checking their contraptions does the typical, "It must be a fuse... I'll be right back," and goes out on a trip to the fuse box, with only his lighter to illuminate his way. He goes up to a window, hearing a sound... checks... nothing. Gets to the fuse box, flips a switch and the lights come back on. He knocks over a cup and bends to pick it up and WHAM behind him is... a werewolf? A monster? Nope, just a dude in dreadlocks.

Downstairs the two tied up people hear someone walking, they call out this dude's name... of course he's not alright. He is thrown down the stairs, throat slit and a gang of dirty people walk in. The tied up people tied up obviously know who these new dirty people are. The leader of the gang holds up a tape and mentions something about having proof of "the boy surviving." They ask where the boy is, she refuses and the guy (I'm assuming he's her husband) gets a knife point to his chest. They give her the option to tell them or he dies. She says she doesn't know, that whomever is hiding this boy anticipated people looking for him, so they didn't tell them anything.

The gang leader says she might as well have held the blade herself and nods. The husband gets run through. End of clip.

Honestly, I didn't like what I saw. The movie looks alright... not direct to video or anything, but it was paced oddly. The scares were predictable and not impressive, the wardrobe looked like something out of STARGATE ATLANTIS and the acting wasn't anything more than bland. The clip they brought could have been to blame. It's a weird choice. No real gore, totally out of context, no monster or anything to get the horror geeks jonesing to see the movie.

Tid bits from the panel:

-The plot has something to do with two camps of werewolves with two radically different belief systems. One wants to fully live the werewolf life, the other doesn't like the bloodshed involved. It's also about a family protecting their kid.

-Stan Winston says it's "about werewolves that'll fuck you up." No CGI used at all, but also very little prosthetic work. A different take on werewolves, where the actor has more opportunity to perform without the burden of heavy make-up.

- Looking at an early '07 release.

CRANK

On the panel were stars Jason Statham, Efren Ramirez (Pedro from NAPOLEON DYNAMITE) and directors Mark Naveldine and Brian Taylor.

This flick is about Jason Statham's character, who is a man with many enemies. One day he wakes up and finds out (don't know how) that he has been injected with something that will kill him in 90 minutes. He goes on a search to find out who injected him and why. Not a bad premise for a flick. They showed a clip...

The clip started off with a slice. Statham swings down just as the clip starts and lobs off a big lug's hand, clutching a gun. The lug doesn't seem as upset about this as you may think he'd be. He charges Statham, knocks him into a pile (they're in an alleyway) and starts punching the shit out of him. Suddenly a man in drag (Efren) hits the lug on the back with a rolling pin. The lug chases after, leaving Statham lying on the ground. Statham pulls out a handgun and pulls the trigger at the lug's back. CLICK-CLICK-CLICK.

He pulls himself off the ground as Efren screams, getting beaten by a metal washtub by the lug. Statham stumbles down the alley towards the beating and sees the severed hand on the ground, still holding the gun. He picks it up and isn't easily able to pry the hand off, so he keeps it on, walks up to the lug and pops a cap in this head, showering Efren with brain matter and blood. Statham peels the hand off the gun and tosses it to Efren.

Tidbits from the panel:

- Both directors ran the camera, so whenever one was getting a close up the other was getting a wide, etc.

- The stuff injected into his body acts on his adrenaline, so Statham's character in the film is described as the human version of the bus from SPEED. If he slows down, he dies.

- Statham said he is loyal to Guy Ritchie, when asked about him by a fan. "I'll do anything he puts in front of me. Plus, I'm cheap and Guy likes that."

SAW 3

The biggest part of this panel. Darren Bousman (director), Leigh Whannell (writer), producers Orn Koules and Mark Berg and stars Shawnee Smith (Amanda) and Tobin Bell (Jigsaw). People were going nuts for this one, including the 9 year old next to me in his SAW 2 t-shirt. We got some info from the panel then saw a full scene, a trap no less, from the film. Panel info first, although the Lionsgate moderator was a real douchebag the whole presentation, taking up all the Q&A time to ask stupid, boring questions and then telling us to not ask any SAW 3 questions... on the SAW 3 panel to the panelists that are there to promote SAW 3.... So, here's what still came out:

- The SAW 3 trailer will premiere on THE DECENT.

- The "cheesy panther tattoo" on Amanda's shoulder became the bane of her existence. She said if she had known her half day's worth of work on the first movie would have turned into a starring character in the series she would have insisted on not having that heroine junkee tat.

- Director Darren Bousman said SAW 3 is as different from SAW 2 as SAW 2 was different from SAW 1. They said that SAW 3 will make the second film "look like a Disney film."

- There will be fewer characters than the last movie, so more time for character development. That way you care more about who gets it.

- One fan asked for clarification on the first film from writer and co-star Leigh Whannell. He didn't understand how Zip knew where the bathroom was at the end of the movie. There was a kind of start and pause stuttering in response. I heard them say that Jigsaw worked closer to Zip than he did with the other people he was trying to "help." Then the Lionsgate panel guy looked like he was having a fit and then we got a bit from Whannell saying that we'll understand more about that in the next film and that there will be "Surprises and gifts for the fans" in SAW 3.

- Tobin Bell's favorite traps are the head trap in the first film and the needle pit in the second.

Now for the clip.

The clip starts with a guy sitting in a chair, chains hanging off of him. The room he's in looks like a run down classroom, with table-desks stacked up on top of each other all around him. He stands. He's naked, except for boxers. There are chains attached to links in his skin. Dug into his skin. There's one in each shoulder, one on each of his hips (in the love-handle area), a couple on each arm, a couple in each achilles tendon and one big one attached to his lower jaw.

The TV in front of him turns on and it's the Jigsaw clown doll. He tells this dude that he's chosen a life in chains. That he's been in and out of prison his entire life. He now has to decide if he will end his life in chains or free himself. There is a bomb in the room counting down from 1 and 1/2 minutes. It's just out of reach. "Live or die. Make your choice."

So, the clock's counting down and he has to rip the chains from his flesh. Each chain he wrenches free, pulling up skin and causing blood to flow. The countdown is beating him. He kicks his legs forward, ripping the pin that had him through each achilles tendon, rips them out of his arms, hips, shoulders, legs. It's 10 seconds to go and he only has the one through his lower jaw left.

He strains, trying to pull the chain out. It's not giving. 3... 2... he pulls one last time... looks disgusting... 1... then cut to black and the logo: SAW 3!

Pretty good stuff. I like that they're going for less of an ensemble. I didn't like SAW 2 nearly as much as I liked the original SAW. And I'm spent... be back with at least one more panel to report on, God help me...

-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com