The first trailer for director Adam Wingard‘s horror film You’re Next is now online.  The story centers on a family reunion that turns deadly when the family becomes targeted by masked murderers.  Their only hope is Erin (Sharni Vinson), a girlfriend of one of the family members. I really dug the flick when I saw it at TIFF 2011, and I’m excited that it’s finally coming out.  The trailer feels a tad on the generic side, but it doesn’t give away too much, and I like the use of Lou Reed‘s “Perfect Day”.

Written by Simon Barrett, You’re Next also stars Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Barbara Crampton, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Rob Moran, and Nicholas Tucci, and Ti West.  The film opens August 23rd.  Hit the jump to watch the trailer.

Lionsgate has begun to promote their upcoming horror flick, and they’re wisely seizing on one of the film’s most iconic aspect: the masks of the three killers.  Each killer wears a different mask, and so Lionsgate is releasing three teaser posters.  Today, we’re happy to premiere the teaser poster for the lamb mask.  The poster also asks “Did you remember to lock your door?”, and I did not, so that was a very helpful reminder.  People who have seen the movie will also note to cover their windows, stay low, and learn as many survival tactics as possible.

Hit the jump to check out the cool teaser poster, and click on the respective links for my positive review from TIFF 2011, my interview with star Sharni Vinson, and my interview with director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett.  Be sure to keep an eye out for the first trailer on Thursday, March 28th.  The film also stars AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Barbara Crampton, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Rob Moran, Joe Swanberg, Nicholas Tucci, and Ti West.  You’re Next opens August 23rd.

Back in 2011, I caught You’re Next at the Toronto International Film Festival.  I really dug the film, and I’m glad that it will finally hit theaters later this year.  The plot centers on a family reunion that turns deadly when the family becomes targeted by masked murderers.  Their only hope is Erin (Sharni Vinson), a girlfriend of one of the family members.  The film also stars AJ Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Barbara Crampton, Wendy Glenn, Margaret Laney, Rob Moran, Joe Swanberg, Nicholas Tucci, and Ti West.

The film recently played to an enthusiastic crowd at SXSW 2013, and I got the chance to sit down and discuss the movie with director Adam Wingard and writer Simon Barrett.  We talked about writing a strong female character from the inside-out, designing the creepy and iconic masks worn by the killers, shooting carefully inside of a historic mansion, and more.  Hit the jump to check out the interview.  You’re Next opens August 23rd.

The horror anthology sequel V/H/S/2 is a mixed bag, both in terms of the horror shorts it presents and the identity the franchise is trying to acquire.  Arriving a year after its predecessor, it’s clear that V/H/S/2 is meant to be the first of what should be an ongoing series where fan-favorite indie directors step behind the camera to deliver a horror short.  The sequel attempts to reduce the flabbier aspects of the original, but it also feels more standardized and therefore less exciting.  Additionally, two of the four shorts come across as underdeveloped or rushed.  But the ones that work are worth the price of admission, and make the strongest case for the existence of a V/H/S franchise.

Though many are certainly looking forward to the big-budget studio fare on the docket this year like Star Trek Into Darkness and Man of Steel, a significantly smaller film also has a great deal of anticipation.  The horror film You’re Next first premiered at the 2011 Toronto Film Festival where it picked up considerable acclaim, earning high praise from our own Matt Goldberg (read his review here).  Lionsgate has finally set the film for release this August, and now the team behind the horror pic is reuniting for the action thriller The Guest.

Variety reports that director Adam Wingard, screenwriter Simon Barrett, and producers Keith Calder and Jessica Wu are collaborating once again for the thriller.  The pic “tells the story of a soldier taken in to the home of the family of a fallen comrade, who becomes a threat to those around him when they discover dangerous secrets in his past.”  Production will begin this May.  Wingard and Barrett are also working on an adaptation of Dead Spy Running for Warner Bros, but it appears that The Guest is their next project.

In preparation for its debut at Sundance 2013, a new teaser trailer has gone online for horror anthology sequel S-VHS.  Much like S-VHS is an improved version of VHS tapes, S-VHS hopes to outdo its predecessor with sequences directed by Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Gareth Huw Evans (The Raid: Redemption) and Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre), Edúardo Sanchez and Gregg Hale of Blair Witch Project and Adam Wingard (You’re Next), plus a segment from You’re Next writer Simon Barrett.  The new trailer doesn’t do much more than tease and beyond the footage of a young girl’s birthday party which gets violently interrupted, it’s hard to separate any substance out of the flashes of footage that follow.  S-VHS premieres at Sundance 2013 on January 19th.  Hit the jump to check out the trailer for yourself.

The 2013 Sundance Film Festival is in the midst of unveiling its lineups, and today we’ve got the first images from some films that will be playing as part of the Park City at Midnight program.  Briefly:

• The Rambler – Written and directed by Calvin Lee Reeder and starring Dermot Mulroney, Lindsay Pulsipher, Natasha Lyonne, James Cady and Scott Sharot.
• S-VHS – A horror anthology follow-up with segments directed by Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans and Jason Eisener; written by Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans and John Davies; and starring Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine and L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott and Hannah Hughes.
• Virtually Heroes – Directed by GJ Echternkamp and written by Matt Yamashita, starring Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill and Ben Messmer.
• We Are What We Are – Written by Nick Damici and writer/director Jim Mickle, starring Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell and Kelly McGillis.

Hit the jump to check out the images and synopses.  The 2013 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 17 – 27.

If Halloween’s got you hankering for another horror anthology, you’ll be pleased to hear about the gaggle of directors attached for V/H/S 2.  Chief among them are Gareth Evans (The Raid) and Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project, Lovely Molly).  The duo will be co-writing and co-directing different segments of the second installment of this year’s found-footage collection of horror shorts.  Also joining the directing team will be Jason Eisener (Hobo with a Shotgun), Timo Tjahjanto (Macabre) and Sanchez’s producing partner, Gregg Hale.  Hit the jump for more on V/H/S 2.  

V/H/S is the latest release to capitalize on the found-footage craze.  The anthology film is structured around a group of criminals who are hired to break in to a desolate house and retrieve a mysterious videotape.  When they arrive at the house they find the owner dead in his recliner, facing a stack of TVs and a massive pile of videotapes.  In order to locate the correct video they begin watching the tapes one by one, each being a segment in the film.  These shorts include new interpretations on a monster, a masked stalker, a killer in the woods, a ghost story and some good ol’ Satanists; effectively providing a snapshot of the horror genre.  V/H/S is directed by Adam Wingard, Ti West, David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg, Glenn McQuaid and newcomers Radio Silence.

During the press conference for the film, I was able to sit down for a one on one phone interview with David Bruckner, writer/director of the segment “Amateur Night”.  During the interview we discussed the inspiration behind the creature in the film, what affect the found footage format has on audiences, and the challenges attached to working in that format.  In addition, we also talked about what we could expect from a sequel to The Signal, how digital has shaped him as a filmmaker, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for the full interview.

V/H/S is the latest release to capitalize on the found-footage craze.  The anthology film is structured around a group of criminals who are hired to break in to a desolate house and retrieve a mysterious videotape.  When they arrive at the house they find the owner dead in his recliner, facing a stack of TVs and a massive pile of videotapes.  In order to locate the correct video they begin watching the tapes one by one, each being a segment in the film.  These shorts include new interpretations on a monster, a masked stalker, a killer in the woods, a ghost story and some good ol’ Satanists; effectively providing a snapshot of the horror genre.  V/H/S is directed by Adam Wingard, Ti West, David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg, Glenn McQuaid and newcomers Radio Silence.

During the press conference for the film, I was able to sit down for a one on one phone interview with Adam Wingard, director of the wrap-around story “Tape 56”.  During the interview we discussed his approach to the found footage subgenre, the benefits of collaborative filmmaking, and taking a break from horror for Dead Spy Running.  In addition, we also talked about You’re Next, The ABCs of Death, and a lot more.  Hit the jump for the full interview.

Director Adam Wingard and co-writer Simon Barrett are set to adapt Jon Stock‘s novel, Dead Spy Running.  Per Deadline, the story follows “Danny Marchant, a young DJ on the rise in the international world of electronic dance music,” who is forced to go on the run after he’s framed for the murder of his father, an MI6 agent.  Here’s my favorite part of Deadline’s description: “he gets deeper into the world of espionage while never forgetting his background and skills as a DJ.”  I haven’t read Stock’s series of novels, but I assume this is a comedy of some kind.  Right?  Or does scratching records defeat the terrorists? It’s worth noting that the synopsis of the book makes no mention of the character being a DJ, so I don’t know where Deadline is getting their info on that detail.

Whether it’s played straight or not, Dead Spy Running will be a change of pace for Wingard and Barrett, who previously created the horror films A Horrible Way to Die and the great You’re Next (my review), the latter of which recently received a released day of August 23, 2013.  The duo also provided one of the segments in the upcoming horror anthology V/H/S (my review), which opens October 5th.  Hit the jump for a synopsis of Jon Stock’s Dead Spy Running.

One of my favorite films from last year’s Toronto Film Festival was Adam Wingard’s home-invasion horror flick You’re Next.  The story is about a family reunion that turns deadly when the family becomes targeted by masked murderers.  Their only hope is Erin (Sharni Vinson), a girlfriend of one of the family members and the best home defender since Kevin McCallister.

Last year, after a bidding war with Summit, Dimension, CBS Films, and FilmDistrict, Lionsgate acquired the flick and I’ve just exclusively learned they’ve scheduled an August 23, 2013 release date.  While that’s still many months away, over the next year as the studio ramps up promotion, we’re going to be covering this movie like it’s the last film on Earth.  Trust me, You’re Next needs to be on your radar.  For more on the film, here’s Matt’s review and you can hit the jump for some images.  Again, You’re Next hits theaters August 23, 2013.

Magnolia followed up on the red band trailer for the horror anthology V/H/S with a green band trailer that is theoretically approved for all audiences.  Even with the friendlier green color, it is still too scary for me.  I can never see this, but based on our reviews from Sundance and SXSW, V/H/S is worth seeking out if you are more comfortable with the horror genre.

Ti West, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, David Bruckner, Adam Wingard, and Glenn McQuaid teamed up to direct V/H/S. The movie premieres on VOD August 31 before it hits theaters on October 5.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Magnolia has released a red band trailer for the horror anthology V/H/S.  The premise centers on a group of petty criminals who find a cache of VHS tapes: “As they search for the right one, they are treated to a seemingly endless number of horrifying videos, each stranger than the last.”  I had weeks of nightmares based on the videotape footage in The Ring, so this looks terrifying.  I cannot see this.  Based on our reviews from Sundance and SXSW, V/H/S is worth a watch if you can handle it.

Ti West, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, David Bruckner, Adam Wingard, and Glenn McQuaid teamed up to direct V/H/S. The movie premieres on VOD August 31 before it hits theaters on October 5.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

Back when V/H/S (which, for brevity and sanity’s sake, we’re going to call VHS from here on out) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the word on the street was that directors Ti West, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, David Bruckner, Adam Wingard, and Glenn McQuaid had crafted one helluva found-footage horror anthology:  reports had audience members vomiting in their seats, people fainting out of sheer terror, massive rounds of applause when the credits rolled, and so on.  And so, it was with great anticipation that I decided to check out one of the film’s midnight screenings during this year’s SXSW Film Festival.  Did the film live up to the hype?  Find out after the jump.