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 we got our first details on Blumhouse and Universal's upcoming The Purge TV series, which will be a bit less Purgey than one might expect. We also got some new quote on Halloween from co-writer Danny McBride, who just keeps saying all the right things, a teaser for The Shining's debut appearance at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, and a look back at ADI's creature FX from Alien 3. Last but certainly not least, George A. Romero is getting back in the zombie game with Road of the Dead, but he's handing over the franchise to a new director.

For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site this week, 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. For more, be sure to hit up Collider Nightmares or our round-up of the best horror movies on Netflix. Thanks for tuning in, and sound off in the comments with your thoughts, questions, and other horror musings.

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Danny McBride Wants to Make Michael Myers Scary Again

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Image via Compass International

Danny McBride has been doing the press rounds for Alien: Covenant and he just can't stop saying the right things about Halloween. McBride and director/co-writer David Gordon Green were recruited by Blumhouse to reboot the iconic horror franchise (with the blessing of John Carpenter himself), and with the film slated to land in theaters next fall, the duo is hard at work on the script.

McBride told Variety:

We are writing pretty furiously right now and we’re trying to shoot it this fall. We want to try and get it out for the 40th anniversary next year, so we are deep in the trenches of the script and hammering away.

He also offered up some details on their approach to Michael Myers while appearing on the Empire Podcast, and bottom line, they're keeping it simple.

I think we’re just trying to strip it down and just take it back to what was so good about the original. It was just very simple and just achieved that level of horror that wasn’t corny. And it wasn’t turning Michael Myers into some supernatural being that couldn’t be killed— that stuff to me isn’t scary. I want to be scared by something that I really think could happen. I think it’s much more horrifying to be scared by someone standing in the shadows while you’re taking the trash out as opposed to someone who can’t be killed pursuing you.

McBride expanded on his thoughts a bit more during a visit to the Jim Norton & Sam Roberts Show, and he's all about making the iconic slasher villain real and scary again.

"It’s not a reboot, it’s not gonna be a rehash. It’s a continuation of Michael Myers – where we’re choosing to continue it from, you’ll have to see when the movie comes out,” McBride explained. “I’d already seen all these movies but I’ve really been studying them now, and just thinking about all the people that have been hired to make a Michael Myers movie. Just trying to avoid any mistakes that those people might’ve made. The first Halloween is scary as shit. And the second Halloween is scary, but not as scary. And then from there, it isn’t as scary. And I really think that what happens with it is that he basically becomes Frankenstein. No matter what anyone hits him with, he’s not gonna die. There’s no suspense."

 

“We’re just trying to play with that. Make him real. Not make him real by giving him some crazy backstory either. Just getting back to the basics. Even the moment that they made Laurie and Michael Myers siblings – it also makes it not quite as scary. So all that kind of stuff to us… those are the things that took an amazing idea and took it somewhere it wasn’t quite as effective.”

'The Purge' TV Series Will Be Fairly Purgeless

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Image via Blumhouse/Universal

I'm very curious to see what Blumhouse chooses to do with The Purge TV show. They could have easily made it an anthology series with each new season playing out as an extended and in-depth version of the films. And the TV show format gives them the freedom to go anywhere and leave behind the arc of the resistance a bit if they wanted to. James Monaco's concept is so fabulous because there are infinite possibilities to it. What happened on the first Purge? What happens in rural America? What happens in prisons? (Assuming there are at least a couple of those kicking around.) The Purge has always been a fabulous high-concept horror idea.

For the series, it looks like they're choosing to flesh out the world rather than keep it Purge-centric. At the NBC Universal upfront, Jason Blum told reporters that in addition to the Purge itself, "it will reveal to the fans what happens the other 364 days of the year and how that law affects people."

Purge is scheduled to run on both USA Network and Syfy in 2018. Blumhouse and Universal will also release a new Purge film next year so get ready for a whole load of legally sanctioned murder.

George Romero Presents 'Road of the Dead'

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Image via EPIX

George A. Romero is gearing up for another zombie film, but this time he'll be taking a backseat as producer with Matt Birman taking over the wheel as director. That's all the driving puns I'm gonna do. Promise.

Per Indiewire, the new film, titled Road of the Dead, is a "Road Warrior meets Rollerball at a Nascar race, with significant inspiration from Ben-Hur." Birman, who served as second unit director on Romero's contemporary trilogy of zombie films (Survival of the Dead, Diary of the Dead and Land of the Dead), first pitched the concept about ten years ago. The film takes place on an island where zombie prisoners race cars in Coliseum style death matches for the entertainment of wealthy humans.

Sounds maybe terrible, maybe delightful. I do like the trend we're seeing with older directors handing over the reigns of their franchises while remaining creatively involved. We saw that happen with Phantasm: Ravager last year, and while it's not a perfect movie, it was an ambitious and lively film that maintained the spirit of its predecessors. Here's hoping Road of the Dead follows suit.

ADI Shares Behind the Scenes Effects Video from 'Alien 3'

I hope you guys liked Alien: Covenant! Or at least have been enjoying some lively debates about the film. I really liked it, Matt loathed it, and everyone I know seems to have a different opinion of the damn thing. But can it overtake Alien 3 as the most debated and unfairly maligned film in the franchise? Only time will tell!

With the 25th Anniversary of David Fincher's sneakily good bastard film next week, the folks over at Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc (aka ADI) have released a behind-the-scenes video looking back on the creature effects from the 1992 film.

Here's what they had to say.

As the 25th Anniversary of ALIEN 3 approaches, we could not ignore our contribution to the film's title character: the Alien itself. Through the miracle of VHS and exclusive photographs, ADI takes you back to that year of hard work at Pinewood Studios. Enjoy the retrospective!

'The Shining' Will Play with You at Halloween Horror Nights

One of the best horror films of time is making its debut at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights. The yearly event transforms Universal's Orlando and Hollywood theme parks into a living horror film, and this year, Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece The Shining will welcome park guests into Jack Torrence's descent into madness at both parks.

Per the press release,

“The Shining” maze at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights will provide guests with a unique opportunity to relive some of the film’s most iconic, and sinister, moments.  While venturing through the eerie Overlook Hotel, guests will be thrust into the hotel’s tragic history of murder and madness, bearing witness to caretaker Jack Torrance’s spiraling descent into insanity. Nightmarish visions will come to life in this macabre maze, overwhelming guests with the “shine” of the murderous, ghostly entities that lurk around every turn – all while trying to escape the wrath of Jack Torrance as he violently succumbs to the hotel’s paranormal forces.

More details on the full event lineup are incoming (though we already know that American Horror Story is on the menu). For more information, check out the official website.