Jan 20 - Underworld Awakening
Jan 27 - Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes
Jan 27 - The Wicker Tree
Feb 3 - The Woman in Black
Feb 3 - Chronicle
Feb 3 - The Innkeepers
Mar 9 - The Raven
May 11 - Dark Shadows
Jun 8 - Prometheus
Fall and Winter tend to be good for horror and there's nothing on the books now... also, the Spring and Summer bring some big non-horror films to be excited about, including: Men in Black III, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Dark Knight Rises. Let's take a closer look at some of the notable films that are slated...
"Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes" is probably going to be an unmitigated disaster, as they're doing this as a "found footage" film. They do have the producer from "Paranormal Activity" involved, but I just don't see this being a success. This sounds like an idea that was born out of an executive meeting.
"The Wicker Tree" is interesting as it's basically a sequel to "The Wicker Man" and it's from the same filmmaker, Robin Hardy. I say it's basically a sequel because, apparently, it's more like a reimagining. Wacky religious people seems like a good subject matter these days, I'll bite... and, hey, I liked "Wicker Man".
"The Woman in Black" is a PG-13 horror, but it stars Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) as a young lawyer that travels to a remote village where he finds a vengeful ghost. He's done other roles that aren't Harry Potter, but I haven't seen them... a young lawyer? Hmmm...
"Chronicle" is a found footage style film that I really am interested in, although I'm not sure it needed to be a found footage film. It's about three high school students that discover they have super powers... and they film themselves. You need to check out the trailer, very cool.
"Dark Shadows" could be interesting. It's a Tim Burton directed and Johnny Depp starring film with an interesting concept - Johnny Depp is a rich, powerful playboy type guy in the 1700's that meets a witch that turns him into a vampire and buries him alive. He emerges in 1972 and returns to his manor to find it fallen into ruin by his family...
"Prometheus" is probably the film that I'm most looking forward to, as Ridley Scott returns to sci-fi and calls "Alien" the jumping off point for this project. He goes on to say that "there's strands of "Alien" DNA, so to speak, but the ideas are unique, large and provocative." Looking forward to that, check out the trailer, it's online.
I'm probably missing quite a bit, but what are you looking forward to? Is it going to be a good year or is this just going to be another year of sequels and pablum for the masses?
" looks slick, has great production value, a bunch of good looking girls and appears to be well put together... I'm just not sure if the concept is going to fly, but I haven't seen it. A couple is on vacation in Spain and the girl is taken and becomes the trophy of a psycho named the White Arab... the guy does everything he can to find her. I don't know, it doesn't sound terribly original to me, but whatever. It probably has lots of T&A, maybe some decent violence, who knows?
". If you didn't know, Killjoy is actually played by Trent 
". What I like about this micro film is that it obviously doesn't try to take itself too seriously. The wigs, make-up and acting are all over-the-top and the plot is insane. Out of work TV presenter/creature hunter, Tuck Bushman, signs up to collect the reward offered by the mayor of 
I can't even come up with anything to say about the box office, we're right in the apres-Thanksgiving, en route to Christmas period where everything is family oriented. "Tangled" pulled in over $20Million, jettisoning it past "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1". The next "Chronicles of Narnia" film comes out this Friday, along with the romantic thriller "The Tourist", starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. The near future doesn't look that bright, either. I've heard it's going to suck, but some of you may be interested in "Tron Legacy", which comes out on the 17th. After that... no joke, you're going to have to wait until February for a genre film. Films that are getting buzz, and may be worth checking out, include "The Fighter" and "Black Swan". "The Green Hornet" comes out January 14th - I'm luke warm on it, I don't know. It's enough to make you just sit at home and watch DVD's, but it's been a while since there's been a really exciting week. There are a couple good, new indie horror's to check out, though. 
" and, I don't know what to tell you... it didn't blow up my skirt. Christopher Nolan is awesome, the effects were unreal and the concept was pretty f'ing cool. HOWEVER, after that, I thought it was fairly basic and run-of-the-mill. For me, it was one of those films that, had no one told me anything, I would've loved it. But, because everyone said it was so awesome, I was let down. That and it had gaping plot holes and outright didn't make sense at times.
" actually looks alright. It's from Sandy Collora, who made "Batman: Dead End" and the quality is fantastic, the cinematography looks unreal and it looks to be a cool throwback to 70's and 80's sci-fi. I'm not sure how the film came about, but I'm definitely interested in checking it out. Looking around, he put together some wicked posters... like the one above. I have no clue why the went with the cover art that they did. I'm going to have to look deeper into this film.
" is being released now... they either decided to rerelease it themselves with new cover art OR they sold it to a distributor and they changed up the cover art and rereleased it. I'm hoping, for Christine Parker's sake, that they got it picked up. Not only have I seen "Fistful of Brains", we interviewed writer/director Christine Parker about it around a year ago. You can find a link to our interview 
" looks to be a very ambitious micro-cinema film. I don't want to call it a horror, but it definitely has horror elements. It's more like a gory, sci-fi action film or something. Anyhow, it's about a near future where drugs and crime have risen 500% and people are forced to take back the streets from the bloodthirsty drug cult. The killers look awesome, the action looks great. I'd love to check this out and talk with the filmmakers... I may have to look into this further, too. Stay tuned.
, the next is a DVD four pack of "
" and the last, and best, is a DVD four pack of "
". Now, on to the new films. No trailers on our Youtube Page this week, as none of them were available, but you can click on the films titles to be taken to their Amazon Page where you can read more and/or buy the film.
" as a horror, but it does sound like it could get violent. It's from Sundance Film Fest alum, Brandon Sonnier, and it's about two wannabe thugs that duck into a Blues bar and end up on an intense journey of self discovery... and then the situation explodes into violence. Even if you'll only watch horror, this is worth checking out because it's a one-room drama that has only a handful of actors. You want to make a low-budget film look good? Use that formula.
" comes from director John Niflheim and is distributed by Independent Entertainment. It's a low-budget indie and it's about a sex offender who offends... sexually. The guy who did this whole sub-genre best was Shane Ryan, with the "Amateur Porn Star Killer" series and, quite frankly, I didn't get into that... and Ryan did full-on porn in his version. Anyhow, if you're in to the simulated rape scenes and all that, feel free to check it out.
" costs $29.95, is only 50 minutes long and stars Anastasia Pierce and Arial X. If you're interested, Anastasia Pierce is an international fetish model, specializing in bondage, and Arial X is a porn star. So... I think you can guess what you're getting here. Surprisingly, I couldn't find the trailer online.
Honestly, I didn't see that coming. In fact, I don't think anyone did. "Paranormal Activity 2" delivered. Not only did it deliver, it won the weekend with ease. Further, it drew North of $40Million, which makes it the highest-grossing opening for a supernatural horror film... ever. "Hereafter" was the only other film to open this weekend and it didn't do quite as well. With all due respect to Clint Eastwood, Paranormal 2 will probably flicker out fairly quick and "Hereafter" will stick around for a while. Sure, they're both supernatural films, but they're completely different audiences. Parents are going to "Hereafter", their kids are going to "Paranormal 2". In any case, let's take a closer look at Paranormal 2...
To be honest, I'm not terribly intrigued by anything that went on at the box office over the weekend. Not only was there nothing related to horror out, there were no real stories emerging. I think we all knew that "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" would win the weekend... the original is a classic and the return of Gordon Gekko couldn't be more timely. The financial crisis was basically a long marketing campaign for the original, as I can't count how many times I heard the line, "Greed is Good" over the last 2 years. That and I really like the idea of reviving the character, after he gets out of jail, to alert the financial community of a global economic disaster. Not sure how I feel about Shia LaBeouf, but it's not this film... it's LaBeouf in general. Other than that, "Legend of the Guardians" was a bit of a let down and "The Virginity Hit" had one of the worst opening of all time... fourth lowest grossing for a nationwide release on record. As for the week in horror on DVD, it's pretty good. As usual, you can check out the trailers on our 
", "
", "
", "
", "
", "
", "
" and "
". Now, I'm not sure what they mean by multi-tiered and they really couldn't have picked a worse partner than Blockbuster, but... here they are, in any case. Available on Amazon. I never saw these promoted much before this, they weren't in the theaters and I don't recall them having any online presence, so... what the hell are they talking about when they say multi-tiered film distribution? Maybe it was limited releases and, possibly, they were premiered on cable somewhere, I don't know. Really, I have no idea if any of these are any good. For more info, click on each individual title.
", I wasn't sure it would work. Three skiers get stranded on a chair lift? Could that really hold a whole movie? It's definitely out of the box for Adam Green, who did "Hatchet", "Spiral" and "Hatchet II". Then again, I remember an interview he did after "Hatchet", where he said he wanted to stick with horror, but didn't want to get pigeon-holed as a slasher director. In any case, this isn't a slasher film and this sub-genre seems to be in right now. What would you call it? Isolation horror? "Buried" has a lot of hype and this seems to be in the same vein. What I like about it is that it's tailor made for indie horror filmmakers. Very few actors, very few locations... easy to do.
"... it's a rock-horror about a loser band that turns into vampires and then takes the world by storm. It's got a decent budget, looks great and has a wicked cast, including Dave Foley, Iggy Pop, Moby, Alice Cooper and Malcolm McDowell. Chances are it's not going to have a lot of gore or anything, but it could have great camp/cult qualities.
" could be a pretty cool documentary. I love horror docs and I don't think I've seen one that concentrates just on American horror. Lance Henriksen hosts and takes you through a history of American horror, from the earliest monster movies to modern-day slashers.
" should be everything I'm looking for. It's from the producers of "Machine Girl" and "Tokyo Gore Police", two of my favorite recent Asian horror flicks, and, if you're a regular reader, you should know that I think monster movies are coming back and this is, without question, a monster movie. Having said that, it's a campy, "dudes in rubber monster suits" monster movie, but there's nothing wrong with that. There was actually a bunch of coverage on it in the latest Fangoria, I think. In any case, I'm going to be checking it out. 
" because, believe it or not, there's various films called the same thing... or something similar. Anyhow, it's apparently inspired by J-horror and is a psychological horror/suspense. Cover art is awesome, wish I knew more about it.
" came out last year, but it's getting a DVD/Blu-ray release this week. It's sort of a low-budget "Tales From The Crypt", as it's an anthology of sorts... only two films, though, with a third story holding the other two together. The main story revolves around how the couple has to return the two films by midnight, as they don't want to know what the late fee's are... I like the idea and I'm always a fan anthologies.
So, here I am, my last few hours in LA... waiting for a shuttle bus to come pick me up and take me to LAX. If you're wondering why I haven't posted anything in a few days, that's why - been too busy down here. I came down for a wedding, but stayed at the Dead Harvey Compound while I was here and we managed to meet up with a few like-minded folks over the last few days and have been shooting a lot of shit about the indie horror scene. I have two things to report. (1.) After one particular meeting, we have renewed vigor for what we're trying to do here at Dead Harvey and, hopefully, we'll have something new to report on that soon. I'm not sure what that something new is, honestly, but let's just say there's some cool things going on and I hope we're a part of it... even if it's just a small part. (2.) Don't fret, folks, indie horror is alive and well, it's just a difficult scene to be in. After a lot of talk, the same conclusion comes up over and over again... This industry is just tough, but I think we all know that. However, there are beacons of hope... Technology is changing a lot... and it's changing things for the better. Social networking is allowing us to find and get in touch with each other easier, the web is making marketing and promoting more accessible and new distributions models will give power back to the filmmakers... It's happening and you need to be up on all of it. So, stay tuned!
" is from writer/director Eric Espejo and they're selling it a great price, $6.99. The film is low-budget by Hollywood standards, $250K, but definitely looks and feels like it has a bigger budget than that. It's about a ghost hunter that's looking to retire from his paranormal TV show, so he looks for a phenomenal show to wrap it all up. What he ends up taking on is a bizarre case that quickly turns personal and deadly.
", staring Mario Lopez as the hero, Jaime Pressly and Richard Grieco as the villain, which is about a post-apocalyptic earth that's been destroyed by an asteroid? Greico is the tyrannical leader of New America, a military colony in the Arctic, and Lopez is sent in by the authorities... whoever they may be. I'm not sure how Jaime Pressly fits in. Once again, they're selling it for $6.99. With plot, it just may be worth it.
", which was written and directed by Alex Birrell. It had a budget of approximately $20,000 and it's about a wave of violence at a university in Liverpool that's due to the strange experiments of Dr. Joseph Cornwall. His estranged niece heads to the US to live with her uncle, then uncovers a horrifying mystery. There's lots of familiar faces here, including Raine Brown, Billy Garberina and Joe Zaso.
" than the product description, but it's enough to make me mention it. An all-female crew in a spaceship is forced to stop and re-fuel at a penal colony, where they run into a terrified captain that's rambling on about convict #762... who managed to slaughter everyone and is looking for a way off the planet.
" that Echo Bridge is releasing for $39.99. It has 16 lower budget horror films and, having seen most them, I'm telling you this is a good deal. From "The Craving" to "I Am Omega" to "Secrets of the Clown" to "Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned", there's a lot of good entertainment in here... 1,453 minutes of entertainment.
It was a big weekend, to say the least - not only did horror unexpectedly win the weekend at the box office, we had the Emmy's. First off, I don't think anyone expected "The Last Exorcism" to win the weekend... and it did, but in a photo finish with "Takers". In fact, when final numbers come in, they may switch. Anyhow, "The Last Exorcism" was produced by Eli Roth and it's shot like a documentary, so it's sort of a mockumentary horror. It was directed and edited by Daniel Stamm and the story is told from the perspective of a disillusioned evangelical minister that decides to participate in a documentary chronicling his last exorcism, which he thinks will expose the fraud of his ministry... and, let's just say, the 'found footage' may tell a story that the good minister didn't expect. There's a couple of other interesting things here, as well. One, which I really liked, was the viral campaign that they did for the film using Chatroulette - you can see what I'm talking about 
and 
this week. It premiered on The CW Network on September 10, 2009... and I watched the first few episodes, but quickly lost interest. It's really more for the "Twilight" crowd. No surprise, it's based on a book series of the same name by L.J. Smith. The first season won a People's Choice Award and seven Teen Choice Awards... the second season starts on September 9th.
", which is available on DVD and Blu-Ray this week, but I'll be getting my hands on it soon. The trailer is enough to hook you... good God. It's a British deal and it's a TV adaptation of English author David Peace's "Red Riding Quartet". It's set against the backdrop of serial murders and they deal with multi-layered corruption and feature several recurring characters across each film. They did get a theatrical release here, but no one seemed to notice.
" is apparently based on true events... it's about a young girl that gets wrapped up in the occult after she meets a handsome stranger. She then stumbles down a path of haunted dreams and demonic possession and, subsequently, seeks help from friends, doctors, psychiatrists and religious leaders... but they don't believe her. The film looks like it has some budget behind it and looks good. It could definitely be worth checking out.
" and "
". "Heavy Mental" is your typical, shot on DV, nudity and gore filled romp and it even features Llyod Kaufman himself. If you're a Troma fan, you know what you're getting here and you're going to pick it up. "Dead Eyes Open" looks crazy, but mostly because it's a full feature shot on Super 8. First off, I love the look of Super 8 and it's extremely ambitious to have shot an entire feature on it... especially as it's usually tough to do sync sound. Not a problem here, though, as it has subtitles.
", which looks awesome. The look and feel scream late 80's, early 90's excess - tons of sick gore. The trailer sort of reminded me of Richard Stanley's "Hardware" meets Abel Ferrara's "Driller Killer", with a zombie spin. It's written and directed by Andrew Allan and it's about a teen runaway that discovers a sinister mind control plot... that involves drilling into people's heads. Check out the trailer, you won't be disappointed.