It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for the horror haul, our weekly round-up and one-stop-shop for all things horror. This week in horror was relatively slight. The biggest news is also the saddest, we said goodbye to Swamp Thing creator, genre legend, and lovely man Bernie Wrightson. His contributions to the genre are beyond measure and he will be sorely missed. Our condolences go out to his friends and family in this sad time.
Elsewhere, The Fly reboot is back on the docket with a directorial newcomer in talks to helm, Blumhouse will play a supernatural game of Truth or Dare, Scream Season 3 is poised to get the reboot treatment,Train to Busan gets an animated prequel, and The Belko Experiment gets LEGO'd.
For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site, you can click through the links below. Then, check out other genre highlights from the week and finish it all up with a rundown of the week in horror movie trailers. Thanks for tuning in, and sound off in the comments with your thoughts, questions, and other horror musings.
NEWS
- The 15 Best Movie Villains of the 21st Century, Ranked
- New ‘American Gods’ Trailer Is Full of Blood, Fire, and General Insanity
- ‘The Fly’ Remake: ‘Sleight’ Director J.D. Dillard In Talks to Direct and Co-Write
- ‘Voice from the Stone’ Trailer: Emilia Clarke Lives Out a “Hitchcockian Fairy Tale”
- ‘Life’ Red-Band Trailer Features Appropriate Swearing When an Alien Ruins Your Day
- 18 Sequels That Are Better Than the Original
- ‘Amazing Stories': Patton Oswalt, Kumail Nanjiani & More Join Bryan Fuller’s Revival
REVIEWS:
INTERVIEWS
- James Gunn on ‘The Belko Experiment’, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ & That Test Screening Score
- ‘Get Out’ Producer Sean McKittrick Reveals How Jordan Peele’s Film Got Made
- ‘Life’ Director Addresses Those ‘Venom’ Prequel Rumors
- Michael Rooker on ‘The Belko Experiment’, ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ and James Gunn
Alicia Vikander to Slay Monsters in Ben Wheatley's 'FreakShift'
Alicia Vikander hasn't let up since she earned international and awards attention with her whammy of a breakout year (Ex Machina, The Man from UNCLE, and The Danish Girl), and she's showing no signs of slowing down. The Oscar-winning actress is set to film Lara Croft over the summer, and she's already eyeing her next project: a team up with High Rise director Ben Wheatley.
Per Deadline, Vikander is in talks to join Wheatley's Freakshift, "an all-guns-blazing action thriller about a band of misfits who hunt down and kill nocturnal underground monsters" Vikander would take on the role of the lead female protagonist in the monster-hunting tale for a projected August start date (which would give her enough time to finish Croft).
Wheatley, who's known from his offbeat genre-bending fare like Kill List and A Field in England, is directing the project from a script he co-wrote with writing partner Amy Jump.
'Scream' Season 3 Will Reboot the MTV Series
MTV may be giving their Scream TV series the reboot treatment. Based on Wes Craven's game-changing 1996 slasher of the same name, Scream was a major IP with nostalgia value to boot, which is probably why the show debuted big. But viewership dropped by half in the second season, probably after fans realized the show doesn't share all that much DNA with its namesake, and now the network is looking to hit the reset button with a new storyline and new cast.
Scream was renewed for a 6-episode third season, a reduced order from the 10 and 13-episode first and second seasons, back in October. Deadline reports that MTV, who remains committed to the series after a major regime overhaul, has tentative plans to start fresh with a reimagining of the title, though a new showrunner has not been found yet. The report also says the cast has been given permission to seek other roles, and star Willa Fitzgerald just booked a role in Fox's Behind Enemy Lines Pilot.
MTV and Dimension did not provide comments.
Blumhouse Sets Supernatural 'Truth or Dare' Starring Lucy Hale
Blumhouse is having a hell of a year. The studio released M. Night Shyamalan's Split in January and Jordan Peele's Get Out in February, a mighty box office one-two punch that has earned the studio near a quarter-billion dollars before spring has even sprung.
Now Deadline reports that Jason Blum's micro-budget, filmmaker-driven studio is lining up their next project, a supernatural thriller called Truth or Dare from writer-director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2). The film is set to star Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale, as a college student in Mexico who is conned into playing a supernatural game of Truth or Dare. Problem is, the game just won't end and it follows her back home. Wadlow co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Roach and Jillian Jacobs.
'Behind the Mask' Is Finally Getting a Sequel As an 8-Part Comic Series
My love for the 2006 horror comedy Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon is no secret. I write about it pretty much whenever I get the chance, and tend to use those opportunities to sneak in a repeat viewing -- something that never seems to get old. Part docu-style found footage, part classic slasher, Behind the Mask expanded on the self-aware subgenre in the vein of Wes Craven's Scream and New Nightmare, and introduced a peculiar, charming mass murderer with Nathan Baesel's Leslie Vernon.
Fans of the film have been hoping sequel talks would follow through for a decade now, and the tales of Leslie Vernon are finally set to continue in the form of a 8-part comic book series. Described as a sequel/prequel/remake/spreemake, Before the Mask: The Return of Leslie Vernon will be illustrated by artist Nathan Thomas Milliner. You can pre-order your copy here.
'Train to Buson' Gets an Anime Prequel in 'Seoul Station' Trailer
Train to Busan was a welcome return to form for the zombie genre -- a part of the modern horror legacy that has been all but been picked bone dry over the last decade. Before writer-director Sang-ho Yeon made his live-action feature film debut with Busan, he worked in the animated medium with The King of Pigs, The Fake, and his Train to Busan prequel, Seoul Station.
Now, that prequel is set for release and StudioCanal has debuted a trailer. Seoul Station opens in UK cinemas on March 17th and on DVD and Blu-ray April 3. No word on the US release date yet, but FilmRise is handling the rights.
Watch the trailer above. Here's the synopsis:
As the sun sets around Seoul Station, an old man thought to have died sinks his teeth into the warm flesh of a homeless person. Soon, the streets are filled with vicious zombies desperate to feed.
Hae-sun, a runaway, witnesses the frightening sight while her father and boyfriend desperately search for her. As the attacked become the attackers, the government declares a lock out of the station, leaving the uninfected to struggle desperately against the dangerous undead. With zombie numbers exploding, people are forced to flee with no place to run to, not knowing if they will survive.
'The Belko Experiment' Gets the LEGO Treatment
Huxley Berg Studios gave The Belko Experiment the LEGO treatment with a new animated trailer for Greg McLean's James Gunn-scripted survival horror, which is now in theaters. This is the film's second animated marketing bonus, following the claymation trailer from Lee Hardcastle, and the veteran animator struck again this week with a series of claymation shorts recreating some of the film's most memorable scenes.
The Belko Experiment features a pretty huge cast of familiar faces poised to murder the shit out of each other including Tony Goldwyn (Scandal), Adria Arjona(Emerald City), John Gallagher Jr. (10 Cloverfield Lane), John C. McGinley(Scrubs), Sean Gunn (Super), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy), Owain Yeoman (The Mentalist), Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station), Josh Brener (Silicon Valley).
Here's the official synopsis of The Belko Experiment:
Written by the acclaimed writer/director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither) and directed by Greg McLean (creator of the Wolf Creek franchise), THE BELKO EXPERIMENT is a terrifying, provocative and at times hilarious thrill-ride that literally provokes the question; what does it take to survive at work?