Mark's Horror & Suspense Blog

The official sites of actor Bruce Campbell and author Ted Dekker have announced tentative schedules for the release of their respective films, My Name Is Bruce and House (pictured). Dekker's House opens November 14 in about 50 cities, while Bruce begins a gradual rollout on October 26, with about 20 cities planned. However, Bruce's release is a more informal affair (including Campbell making an appearance at each showing), so cities could be added more easily to its slate.

Sources: Bruce-Campbell.com, TedDekker.com

According to Variety, Columbia Pictures has tapped a pair of writers from TV's The Office to pen a second sequel to the 1984 mega-hit Ghostbusters. Luckily, the plan is to reunite the original cast instead of trying to appeal to the 'tween market by tossing in the Jonas Brothers or something. I don't know if they can really recapture the magic after 25 years, but hopefully it will at least be better than Ghostbusters 2.

Source: Variety

Shhh...Don't tell anyone, but somebody's snuck a bootleg trailer of the upcoming Wolf Man remake -- taped at Comic-Con in July -- onto WorstPreviews.com. While I don't condone such behavior, the clip looks pretty good, even if Anthony Hopkins as Benicio Del Toro's father seems a bit far-fetched. Funny, I don't hear too many complaints about The Wolf Man being remade like I do about so many other Hollywood do-overs. I guess that's because the original is so old, there's little emotional attachment to it from today's audience.

Alas, we'll have to wait until April 3, 2009, to see the final product in theaters.

Source: WorstPreviews.com

The prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) begins its 10-day run today, and of the over 300 movies lined up for show are a handful of quality horror and suspense entries, including the controversial French flm Martyrs (pictured), which is so graphic that it was slapped with the French equivalent of NC-17. If you can't make it to Toronto, though, many of the films already have American distribution lined up, including Martyrs (The Weinstein Company), The Burrowers (Lions Gate), Vinyan (Sony), Eden Log (Magnet) and Pontypool (Lions Gate). Count on seeing them in theaters or on DVD in the US sometime next year.

Passengers, the upcoming supernatural (or not?) thriller starring Anne Hathaway and a stellar supporting cast (David Morse, Andre Braugher, Clea DuVall, Dianne Wiest), now has an official poster and trailer. Originally scheduled for a September release, it's been pushed back to October 24 -- versus Saw V -- and looks like it might scaled down to a limited release. (Not good indications of the film's quality.)

According to Variety, Midnight Meat Train has made an estimated $1.6 million in South Korea since being released there on August 21. Sure, that's not exactly setting the world on fire, but it's about 20 TIMES the measly $83,000 it made in the US, thanks to Lions Gate's near-complete abandonment of the film. It's also currently playing in Russia, Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Estonia and the Netherlands, but no word yet on how it's doing in those countries. At least it's being seen somewhere...

Source: Variety

It's a light week with no theatrical releases and only a handful of DVDs coming out, headed by TV shows Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer and Ghost Hunters.

Horror movies are low on the totem poll of cinematic reverence, but giant animal movies are the scourge of even the horror genre -- often mocked and dismissed like so many baby alligators flushed down the toilet into the sewer. But like those gators, there is some fight left in giant animal movies. There are some that are worthy of watching, liking and, given a chance, even loving. Here are your best bets. (Don't worry; there are no turtles on the list.)

Debuting on TV this week is The Tripper, an entertaining, lighthearted slasher about a hippy-hunting killer in a Ronald Reagan mask taking out a group of tree-huggers at a wooded rave. The star-studded cast includes Thomas Jane, Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens, Courtney Cox, Lukas Haas, Jaime King, Jason Mewes, Balthazar Getty and David Arquette (who also directs). Catch it on Saturday, September 6, at 9:05 PM ET/PT on The Movie Channel.

There's just over a week to go until True Blood debuts on HBO (Sunday, September 7 at 9:00 PM ET/PT), so now's as good a time as any to get to know the characters. That way, your brain won't have to work so hard when the show airs. You're welcome.