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A subgenre within a subgenre, the all female biker gang movie has a long pedigree but has been curiously absent from our screens in recent years, perhaps because directors haven't known how to handle it. It's frequently exploitative in its attitude to women and sometimes homophobic, though it's also given us some of the best leather dyke characters ever to stride across the screen. In Melanie Aitkenhead's hands, however, it becomes something quite different. The gutsiness and uneasy glamour of 1968 classic She-Devils On Wheels are combined with a distinctly modern sensibility and a more realistic take on women's relationship with violence.

In 2017, Aitkenhead's short Blood Ride followed newcomer Maggie (Serinda Swan) through her decision to join the Dark Moon gang. This film picks the story up a few years later when Maggie is well enough established to start asking for favours. Her young cousin Mary (Vanessa Dubasso) has recently.

Stars: Pollyanna McIntosh, Serinda Swan, Diego Boneta, Vanessa Dubasso | Written by Timothy Durham | Directed by Melanie Aitkenhead

Written by Timothy Durham (Blood Ride) and directed by Melanie Aitkenhead, Revenge Ride is an independent horror movie about an all-female biker crew named Dark Moon, who are out for revenge when member of the gang, Maggie’s (Serinda Swan) cousin Mary (Vanessa Dubasso) is drugged an assaulted by a group of football players. It harkens back to old exploitation biker flicks of the 70s, as well as female-fronted revenge pictures like Savage Streets.

I was attracted to the film immediately, being a fan of the genres it feels like an homage to. A terrific cast, I thought most delivered in their roles, with Serinda Swan (Ballers) as Maggie and Polyanna McIntosh as Gang Leader, Trigga, both standing out the most for me. Revenge Ride is a fast-paced action revenge tale, and so...

More than 20 features and four world premieres selected for genre film festival.

UK genre film festival Grimmfest has revealed the line-up for its 2020 edition, which will take place online due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scroll down for full line-up

The festival, which runs October 7 to 11, will open with the European premiere of US psychological thriller Alone, directed by John Hyams, in which a grieving widow is pursued through the wilderness by a relentless psychopath.

Grimmfest has also secured four world premieres for this year’s edition, which include US features The Special, from filmmaker B. Harrison Smith, and They Reach,...

Octane Entertainment has also picked up Goran Dukic’s thriller American Dream starring Mekhi Pfeiffer.

Jack Campbell’s Los Angeles-based Octane Entertainment has acquired international rights to Melanie Aitkenhead’s horror thriller Revenge Ride about a young woman who joins an all-female gang and seeks revenge on a group of American football high school players.

Serinda Swan, Diego Boneta and Pollyanna McIntosh star in the film that was produced by 513 Films.

Octane Entertainment has also picked up Goran Dukic’s thriller American Dream starring Mekhi Pfeiffer, which Samuel Goldwyn will release in the Us on September 27.

Pfeiffer plays a...

21st edition of Montreal genre festival to also screen Atomic Blonde, Good Time and world premiere of 4K restoration of Suspiria.

Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled its full programme for its 21st edition, which runs from July 13-August 2 in Montreal.

This year’s edition will close with the international premiere of South Korean historical drama A Taxi Driver, starring Snowpiercer’s Song Kang-ho, with director Jang Hoon in attendance.

Fantasia will also host the North American premiere of Cannes Competition title Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson, and a special screening of David Leitch’s Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron in the festival’s Action! section.

Its Action! section will also feature two films starring Scott Adkins - Boyka: Undisputed and Savage Dog - who will be in attendance at this year’s festival, as well as the North American premiere of the restored 3D version of James Cameron’s classic Terminator 2: Judgment Day. For the first...

Here are some things that have been in the news in recent weeks: A male college student raping an unconscious woman. A killer motivated by his own homophobia. Mass shootings in Florida. Here are some things that appear in James Franco's remake of 1996 the Lifetime movie Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? A male college student attempting to rape an unconscious woman. A killer motivated by his own homophobia. Mass shootings in Florida.

The Franco-masterminded 20th anniversary remake of the Tori Spelling-starring original also contains nubile teenage vampires,...

Fun fact: If you happen to mention on Twitter that an upcoming Lifetime movie features a large amount of gratuitous lesbian vampire sex, people way outside the traditional Lifetime movie demo suddenly have questions about when it airs.

That is exactly what actor/writer/director/IndieWire contributor James Franco is counting on as the executive producer of this weekend’s “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?” remake. But is there also a deeper meaning to his madness?

Read More: Review: Lifetime’s ‘UnREAL’ Season 2 Bets Big As It Declares War

The original “Mother” was relatively simple — a bad boy came to town and seduced baby Tori Spelling, “Vertigo”-ing her haircut before descending into true villainy. But this new film swaps an emotionally manipulative boyfriend for a lady vampire who’s just hoping to find the true love that will help her escape her bloodlust and…

Look, it’s weird.

Short version of the plot (based on a story by Franco, who also plays a supporting role): Pearl (Emily Meade) has been inducted into a “nightwalker” cabal largely against her will, but if she can connect with true love, she’ll no longer have to prey upon the living to slack her thirst. Fortunately, she seems to have found a soulmate in new lover/aspiring actress Leah (Leila George).

But while Pearl is a genuinely sympathetic character, Leah’s mother Julie (Tori Spelling) does not approve. At first, that’s because of her conservative values, but later, after some investigation, Julie senses that her daughter – wait for it – might be sleeping with danger…

On the surface, that’s not too complicated. But even giving one additional moment of thought to the film’s thematic implications is brain-exploding on a “Scanners” level, because quite sincerely, the premise feels like a legitimate dare from Franco to critics. How are we meant to interpret a remake of a famous example of the prototypical “Lifetime movie,” where the deranged male stalker has been substituted with a loving female partner who also just so happens to be a “nightwalker”? What the hell does that mean? It’s like the anti-angle, actively defying interpretation, demanding that we look deeper into the abyss even though sometimes a pipe is just a pipe…

That’s it: James Franco has found a way to make Lifetime movies into Dadaist art. In this way, he has exceeded the ambitions of last year’s “A Deadly Adoption,” Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig’s failed attempt to secretly make a Lifetime movie. The reason why “Mother” works better than “Adoption” is easy to grasp: “A Deadly Adoption” leaned way too hard in its efforts to ape the generic Lifetime thriller that the original “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?” epitomized. Meanwhile, with this new sort of “Mother,” Franco is truly pushing the boundaries of what you might presume this network to be capable of.

Two years ago, that’d be unimaginable for this network. But if you were to anthropomorphize the modern-day Lifetime, the best metaphor would be to see it as a once-shackled woman bored by routine, but now unleashed and ready to cut loose. (Which would actually be the beginning of a pretty compelling Lifetime movie, in retrospect.)

Sure, the network still runs its standard reality fare, but it’s been making baby steps towards more compelling content since 2014’s “The Lottery” (an under-appreciated dystopian drama series). And right now, the second season of “UnREAL” is one of the summer’s best and most daring shows, across the board.

Now, one of the network’s most iconic films has now been “reinterpreted” as a lesbian vampire love story. That, honestly, is the hardest part to accept. If you strip the remake aspect of this project from your consciousness, it’s actually a pretty watchable film – as lesbian vampire movies go. “Mother” comes with solid direction from Melanie Aitkenhead and a tight script by Amber Coney. The script might be a little too tight, actually, moving awfully fast through major plot beats, but there’s an interesting twist when it comes to the casting of a theatrical production of “MacBeth”… and also, yes, there are lesbian vampires and they have a lot of sex on screen.

Even if we were to get a full and coherent explanation from James Franco about why this “Mother” remake exists, it probably wouldn’t make the actual film any better. And there’s a part of me that likes the fact that it just exists, in all its ridiculousness.

But there is one sequence which proves difficult to engage with, and perhaps it’s because it’s the most grounded of the film. When Leah tries to tell her mother that the girl she’s brought home for dinner isn’t just a friend, but her girlfriend, it leads to the sort of brutal coming-out scene that feels more in tune with 1996 than 2016. (Yes, Julie has a right to be concerned, but c’mon.)

The clear takeaway — like most things in this world that rely on an absurd sensibility in order to be truly appreciated — is that honest human emotion has no place in this sort of scenario. Especially given that, yes, the real danger Leah faces with her lover has nothing to do with the fact that Pearl is a woman — it’s that she’s a vampire. But we’ve recently been hit hard by the reminder that homosexuality on its own non-vampire terms can still be seen as threatening. It’s the hardest part of this blood-soaked story to watch.

Because that’s also when it become hard to enjoy “Mother” as a Dadaist farce, especially given the earnestness with which its leads engage both with each other and the narrative. Perhaps a film called “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?” shouldn’t be a love story, but that’s what this is. It titillates, and it baffles, and it may be ultimately a terrible idea.

But, yeah, we told you about the lesbian vampires. So we get why you’re gonna watch.

“Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?” premieres Saturday, June 18 at 8pm on Lifetime.

Grade: B

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Related storiesReview: The 'Aquarius' Two-Hour, Commercial-Free Season 2 Premiere Blends the Best of Summer Movies & TVReview: 'UnREAL' Takes Aim at Confederate Flag ControversyReview: 'Veep' Predicts the Apocalypse With a Stunning Twist...

James Franco's upcoming remake of the iconic Lifetime telemovie "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?" is set to get even weirder. The original 1996 film starred Tori Spelling as a young woman with a dangerous and obsessive boyfriend (Ivan Sergei) and was essentially a "Fatal Attraction"-style thriller deal.

Franco's take on the other hand is being described as a "vampire-infused lesbian romance thriller". In this take Leila George plays theater major Leah who introduces her girlfriend Pearl (Emily Meade) to her family. Leah's mother Julie (Tori Spelling) can't shake the feeling something is very wrong and soon makes a startling discovery about Pearl.

Nick Eversman also stars while Ivan Sergei will also return for a cameo. Franco penned the story, produces and will appear in the telemovie which is being directed by Melanie Aitkenhead. The new 'Mother' is set to premiere June 18th.

Source: Variety...

James Franco is an interesting individual who loves to try all kinds of things in his career, which is awesome! He’s always doing something new and interesting. It looks like one of his upcoming projects could be a remake of the classic 1996 TV movie-of-the-week, Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? for the Lifetime channel.

The original movie, which I’ve never seen, or ever cared to see, stars Tori Spelling as an innocent college coed whose seemingly wholesome boyfriend, played by Ivan Sergei, may actually be…are you ready for it?...a murderer!

Next year is the 20th anniversary of the movie, and the remake will be a celebration of it. The news comes from Vulture, who says that Spelling will appear in the movie, and she will most likely be playing the mother this time around. The movie will be co-directed and written by Amber Coney and Melanie Aitkenhead,...

There’s an awful lot of chatter about women in entertainment right now. Lots of high profile individuals are ever so bravely ‘speaking out’ about the systemic sexism that prevents women behind the camera from getting jobs and getting projects made. The frustrating thing is that, while there are a vast number of people talking about the issue, there seem to be very few people actually undertaking to rectify the gender imbalance. Actions speak louder than words and, while Star Wars producers, Marvel producers, and performers like Jennifer Lawrence have yet to actually deal with women directors on more than a token basis, Academy Award nominee James Franco is literally putting his money where his mouth is, with a remake of Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?

Indeed, while marquee names are jumping on the bandwagon and lamenting the misogyny faced by women in film and television, James Franco is...

A remake of “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?” from James Franco is in the works at Lifetime, TheWrap has learned. The 1996 original aired on NBC and starred Tori Spelling as a teenage girl whose mother discovers that her daughter’s boyfriend (played by Ivan Sergei) is a psychopath. It has since gone on to become a cult hit, with Franco’s retelling set to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Amber Coney wrote the script for the remake, with story by Franco. Melanie Aitkenhead, the director of Franco’s upcoming “Actors Anonymous” will direct. Also read: James Franco Is a Man...

Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?, arguably the best title ever for a TV-movie, turns 20 next year — and James Franco is not about to let the anniversary go unnoticed. Vulture has learned that the Hollywood Renaissance man is partnering with Lifetime and producer Sony Pictures Television for a remake of the 1996 NBC movie-of-the-week masterpiece, which starred Tori Spelling as an innocent college coed whose seemingly wholesome boyfriend (Ivan Sergei) may actually be [cue dramatic music] a murderer. Lifetime and Sony aren’t commenting on casting, but people familiar with the production tell us that Spelling (thankfully) will appear in the new Mmiswd, almost certainly playing the titular mother. As for Franco, he’s not currently attached to appear onscreen, but he will get executive-producer and story-by credits on the remake. Amber Coney and Melanie Aitkenhead, both of whom worked with Franco on the upcoming feature adaptation of his novel...

James Franco will executive produce Lifetime's remake of "Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?," the cult 1996 telemovie which starred Tori Spelling. The new version will air next year.

Spelling starred as a young woman with a dangerous and obsessive boyfriend. Franco penned the story for the remake which boasts a script written by Amber Coney ("Class").

Melanie Aitkenhead will direct while Vince Jolivette, Diane Sokolow and Rachel Verno will executive produce alongside Franco. The former "Spider-Man" series star has two other TV projects on the way next year which he stars in - Hulu's "11/22/63" and HBO's "The Deuce".

Source: The Live Feed...