Teeth is one of the most unique and intriguing horror movies to come out in the last few years, and if you don't know why, then maybe you should read my review. Feel free to cross your legs as you do so.
Here's a trio of intriguing new trailers for three upcoming suspense, thriller, comedy hybrid and just not-quite-horror movies:
Baghead: A horror/comedy about four friends in a cabin who may or may not be targeted by a looney wearing a paper bag on his head, this independent feature made a splash at Sundance this year. It opens July 25.
Blindness: Oscar-nominated director Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardner) helms this adaptation of the acclaimed José Saramago novel about mass blindness that strikes a city and throws it into turmoil. Julianne Moore stars as the only person left with sight in this suspense thriller that hits theaterson September 19.
Lakeview Terrace: Director Neil LaBute tries to make amends for his train wreck of a remake of The Wicker Man with this thriller about suburban harassment, starring Samuel L. Jackson as the harasser. It hits theaters along with Blindness on September 19.
Alex O'Loughlin gives CBS the fingers.
Photo by: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Contrary to some positive signs last week, CBS is not bringing the vampire detective show Moonlight back for next season. The ratings just weren't up to the network's liking, although if the show consistently won its timeslot, you might think it's as much an issue with the time as it is with the show itself. Anyway, there's an ongoing petition to save Moonlight at www.savemoonlight.com, so you never know if it might find its way back to the small screen. After all, fans saved Jericho last season...although it was ultimately cancelled for a second time.
In other news, The CW announced its fall lineup, which includes Supernatural in its normal Thursday night slot. Reaper, though, has been relegated to a mid-season replacement. Its Tuesday time slot has been allocated to a new teen drama entitled Surviving the Filthy Rich, which, combined with the new Beverly Hlls, 90210 spin-off and their current hit Gossip Girl, makes it clear that the network is going for the vapid pre-teen demographic. Oh well, at least Reaper is still scheduled to come back at some point next season, and given the choice between it and Moonlight, I'd take Reaper.
With no horror movies hitting theaters this week, it's time for the DVDs to shine, and while there aren't that many coming out, this week sees its share of high-end releases, including the crime thriller Untraceable, the survival horror of Timber Falls (which received a brief theatrical run late last year) and a trio of acclaimed foreign productions: Frontier(s), The Cottage and Botched.
Tyler Labine and Bret Harrison of Reaper Photo by: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
It's official: Reaper is coming back for the fall 2008 season! I, for one, am glad. It hasn't gottten great ratings (What on the CW has?), but it's a fun, well-written show with likeable characters and is the closest thing to the more acclaimed Buffy the Vampire Slayer that you'll find on TV today.
Despite the weak box office performance of the 2007 After Dark HorrorFest, the 2008 edition of "8 Films to Die For" is going ahead as scheduled. The first three movies have already been announced. The Brøken, which showed at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is the only one of the three that's finished and the only one of the three not produced by After Dark Films. The other two begin production this month in Romania. So far, the three films to die for are:
The Brøken: A British woman tracks down a woman who appears to be her exact double.
Faithless: A young woman trying to escape an abusive past moves to Atlanta but finds more cruelty awaiting her. (Apparently, she's a Falcons' season ticket holder.)
Perkins' 14: A paranoid man kidnaps 14 people and brainwashes them into becoming his personal bodyguards. When he's arrested, though, the police inadvertently unleash the army of psychos on the town.
Sure, the last HorrorFest had some stinkers (Lake Dead anyone?), I'm glad that the festival's coming back. It's a great experience of terror overload, sort of like the NCAA tournament for horror.
Warner Brothers has announced that it will be closing down its two artsy, independent arms: Picturehouse and Warner Independent Pictures. The two had been responsible for some recent acclaimed horror fare, with Picturehouse releasing The Orphanage in December 2007 and WIP putting out the Funny Games remake earlier this year. According to The Hollywood Reporter, both units were prepared to delve further into the horror and "genre" fields, but the acquisition of New Line, already a genre stalwart, made their efforts superfluous.
One noteworthy genre film that has long been slated for release by Picturehouse is Amusement. Before the big announcement, it had already been delayed from this spring to at least this fall, and although there's no official word on the film's fate, there are rumors that it might just go straight to video. Too bad, but better DVD than never.
Last week, I posted a list of "killer mommy" movies, and it seems only right to also present the opposite end of the spectrum: killer kids. It's a twisted niche that's a particular favorite of mine, and I've gathered what I consider to be the 20 best. No, The Little Vampire (pictured) is not among them.
The upcoming vampire movie Twilight, based on the successful series of young adult books by Stephanie Meyer, now has a glitzy new trailer. The big-budget production about human-vampire teen lovers stars Kristen Stewart (The Messengers) and is directed by Catherine Hardwick, who's already gotten in touch with her inner teen helming Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown. With a screenplay written by Melissa Rosenberg (Dexter...Let's overlook the fact that she also wrote Step Up.), Twilight is that rare blockbuster that stars a woman, is directed by a woman, has a screenplay written by a woman and is based on a novel written by a woman. It's ladies' twilight!
I haven't read any of the books (three so far, with the fourth coming in August), but I imagine that Twilight is expected to do much better than last year's similarly themed star-crossed werewolf book-turned-movie Blood and Chocolate. We'll see when it opens December 12, 2008.
| 