When a film's tagline is "Blood demands blood," revenge is clearly on the cinematic menu.

Dead Man Down, in theaters this Friday March 8th, follow Victor, the seemingly loyal right hand man of Alphonse, a ruthless criminal overlord.  What Alphonse doesn't know, however, is that his trusted enforcer is, in fact, planning an elaborate plan for retribution against his employer, a plan that would punish Alphonse for ruining his life.  Victor's neighbor, the mysterious and scarred Beatrice, discovers his plan and reveals that she has her own thirst for revenge.  Two hurt, wounded people fixated on vengeance, Victor and Beatrice form an unusually strong connection as they navigate the myriad twists and hazards on the road to retribution.

The film marks the English-language debut of acclaimed Danish director Niels Arden Oplev (the Swedish The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) and boasts a screenplay by J.H. Wyman (The Mexican, Fox's Fringe).

Colin Farrell (In Bruges, Total Recall remake) stars as Victor, with Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows) as Beatrice and Terrence Howard (Iron Man, Hustle & Flow) as the nefarious Alphonse.  The film also features Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger, The Devil's Double), Isabelle Huppert (Amour, 8 Women), and Robert Vataj (The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3) in crucial supporting roles.

At the Los Angeles press day promoting Dead Man Down, IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick had the opportunity, along with several other members of the press, to speak with the film's stars, Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, and Terrence Howard, in roundtable interviews, as well as Robert Vataj privately on the phone. Farrell, Rapace, Howard, and Vataj all enthusiastically discussed working with Oplev, their damaged characters, sharing balconies, accidentally smacking each other, working with rats, and the unique relationships that power Dead Man Down.

Synopsis: Victor is a brave enforcer and right hand man to an underground crime lord in New York City. He seeks to avenge the death of his wife and daughter caused by his boss. When his employer is threatened by a mysterious killer, Victor also becomes detective. Victor is seduced and blackmailed by Beatrice, a victim turned avenger whose intense chemistry leads them spiraling into payback delivered in violent catharsis.

Prometheus has come and gone, leaving in its wake many a narrative nitpick, lingering question, and pissed off fanboy.  Nonetheless, Ridley Scott's Alien prequel collected $402 million globally, meaning that Scott's planned sequel to the prequel may just come to fruition at 20th Century Fox.

But Damon Lindelof won't write the next chapter of the journey that began with Prometheus.

Nobody could argue that Prometheus didn't look like roughly $130 million, but a lack of internal logic and mystery that was more frustrating than intriguing had many moviegoers, fairly or not, angrily decrying the work of Damon Lindelof, the writer who overhauled Jon Spaihts's more directo Alien prequel screenplay.  Well, a sequel to the prequel is indeed in development and looking likely in the next few years, but Lindelof probably won't be writing the script.

So Prometheus is at a theater near you.  As such, months of anticipation has been replaced by much discussion, though not necessarily the type for which the filmmakers had hoped.  There are philosophical debates and theological extrapolation, yeah, but also talk of narrative shabbiness, wobbly characterization, and intellectual posturing.  Everyone seems to agree, however, that Prometheus is a handsome film of visual detail and craftsmanship.  Two new featurettes go deep into that craftsmanship to break down the visual effects in three crucial scenes.

Just because the major motion picture it was designed to so teasingly promote is in theaters now doesn't mean that the viral marketing for Prometheus has to stop now.  Indeed, the viral efforts are continuing to tease, with a new website and a new video featuring Guy Pearce as a younger, more virile Peter Weyland quoting Friedrich Nietzsche.

Synopsis: Ridley Scott, director of “Alien” and “Blade Runner,” returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Prometheus is already playing in many a European theater, causing Americans who've been fretting over the film for months to curse their lack of Russian citizenship, but here in the States, we can while away the next week with some more promotion for the new Ridley Scott joint.  The latest in a long, long line of behind-the-scenes featurettes focuses on the Prometheus spacecraft itself. 

This one includes new imagery of the ship, inside and out, as well as interview snippets with Scott's frequent production designer Arthur Max, actors Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, and the director himself.

Yesterday we saw the second official clip from Prometheus and earlier this week we were treated to a featurette that gave some put a spotlight on Charlize Theron's character, Weyland Industries corporate hardass Meredith Vickers.  20th Century Fox is apparently quite fond of using featurettes to promote this Alien quasi-prequel, as today brings not one, but two new behind-the-scenes featurettes, both filled with vague insight, sci-fi imagery, and no small amount of hyperbole.

Holy whoa, Prometheus is just over two weeks away.  Finally, all those burning questions will be answered in what is hopefully a masterful film of science fiction and body horror.  Until then, though, we'll just going to have to be satisfied with more marketing that plays coy and promises big things that come from small beginnings.