Howdy, folks! 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 news, Joe Hill is throwing around some seriously intense praise for Andy Muschietti's IT, calling the film one of the best horror movies ever made on par with The Thing and Jaws. I know, it's a lot. Elsewhere, Wish Upon director John R. Leonetti settles the debate over whether Steven Spielberg or Tobe Hooper directed Poltergeist, Paramount and Bad Robot push the third Cloverfield movie to 2018, The Purge 4 lines up a new director with the help of creator James DeMonaco, and AMC recruits Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson to develop David Cronenberg's novel Consumed to series.

For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site this week -- and it was Comic-Con week so there's a lot, 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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Joe Hill Says 'IT' Is One of the Five Scariest Movies Ever Made

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Image via New Line Cinema

Though your hype levels for IT couldn't be any higher? Well hold Joe Hill's beer, because he just got into the conversation with some seriously strong words of praise for Andy Muschietti's adaptation of the beloved Stephen King novel. In case you've somehow missed it over the last decade or so, Hill (King's son) has become one of the most reliable and exciting voices in horror fiction with books like 20th Century Ghosts, Heart Shaped BoxNOS4A2, and the hit comic series Locke & Key.

During a recent event, Hill spoke about the upcoming series adaptation of Locke & Key over at Hulu and he got to the subject of Muschietti, who recently took over directing duties on the pilot after Scott Derrickson had to step down. Hill revealed that he caught a screening of IT a few weeks earlier, and not only did he like it, he considers it one of the scariest movies ever made; on par with classics like Jaws and The Thing.

Here's what he said:

"Andre's adaptation of IT is one of the five scariest movies ever made. It's tremendously humane, you love the characters in it, but it is just relentlessly terrifying. Only Jaws, The Exorcist, John Carpenter's The Thing and Let the Right One In are scarier. It's that good. It's that brilliant."

I mean, holy shit, Joe. Those are some strong words. I'm going to do myself a favor and not walk into IT expecting a movie as good as the freaking Exorcist, but between the early murmurs and Muschietti's recent confidence he'll be back for a sequel, it's safe to say people are pleased with the film. Watch Hill lay down the praise in the video below.

Next 'Cloverfield' Movie Bumped to 2018

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Image via Paramount Pictures

We're going to have to a wait a bit longer to get the next installment in the Cloverfield series. Per Variety, Paramount and Bad Robot have moved the sci-fi picture back a few months from its original October release date to a new spot on February 2, 2018. This is the second delay for the third Cloverfield pic, formerly titled God Particle, which was originally scheduled to arrive in theaters on February 24, 2017.

Per the report, "The story, set in the near future, centers on a team of astronauts on a space station making a terrifying discovery that challenges all they know about the fabric of reality, all while desperately trying to fight for their survival."

The film stars David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Ziyi Zhang, Elizabeth Debicki, Daniel Brühl, and Chris O’Dowd. Julius Onah (The Girl Is in Trouble) is directing. The project has been in the works since 2012 and is designed to be the third part in the expanding Twilight Zone-esque Cloverfield universe.

John R. Leonetti Says Steven Spielberg Directed 'Poltergeist'

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Image via MGM/UA Entertainment Co.

The debate over who directed Poltergeist has raged on for decades... well maybe not raged, the truth has always been fairly evident, but all the same, fans have enjoyed debating whether it was Tobe Hooper or Steven Spielberg who should get the credit for directing the 1982 classic. At the time, Spielberg said he opted to hand over the reins and focus on E.T. and in the years since, the cast have been a bit divided about the truth, some saying it was Spielberg, others saying Hooper shouldn't be under-credited. Zelda Rubenstein laid it pretty bare a few years back with AICN, saying, “I can tell you that Steven directed all six days I was there. I only worked six days on the film and Steven was there. Tobe set up the shots and Steven made the adjustments.”

But like she said, she was only there for a week. However, Wish Upon director John R. Leonetti was there for the whole shoot, working as a cameraman, and in a visit to the ShockWaves podcast, he pretty much settled the question for good. Spoiler: It was Spielberg.

Here's what he said:

"It was a very intense, very fun, very technical movie to work on. There’s a lot going on. And candidly... Steven Spielberg directed that movie. There’s no question. However, Tobe Hooper – I adore. I love that man so much.... Hooper was so nice and just happy to be there. He creatively had input. Steven developed the movie, and it was his to direct, except there was anticipation of a director’s strike, so he was “the producer” but really he directed it in case there was going to be a strike and Tobe was cool with that. It wasn’t anything against Tobe. Every once in a while, he would actually leave the set and let Tobe do a few things just because. But really, Steven directed it."

So there you have it. Steven Spielberg directed Poltergeist, which you probably already knew in your gut, but now it's settled.

'The Purge 4' Gets a Promising New Director

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Image via Blumhouse / Universal

The fourth entry in The Purge franchise is headed in some new directors. Per THR, Gerard McMurray will direct The Purge 4, marking the first installment directed by someone other than creator James DeMonaco. The director made his feature debut earlier this year with the Sundance hit Burning Sands.

The fourth installment comes from Blumhouse Productions, Platinum Dunes and Universal, and though DeMonaco declined to direct, he remains involved in the project and helped pick McMurray for the gig. DeMonaco is also writing the script. Plot suggestions are being kept under wraps, but there have been reports the film may be subtitled The Island.

The producing team is full of franchise regulars: Blumhouse's Jason Blum, Platinum Dunes' Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, and DeMonaco’s longtime collaborator Sebastien K. Lemercier will produce.

"I have not seen a film as confidently directed in a long time as Burning Sands, and I'm excited to see Gerard's own expression of the Purge world," said DeMonaco.

The Purge 4 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 4, 2018.

AMC Developing Cronenberg Novel with 'Fear The Walking Dead' Showrunner

Deadline reports that David Cronenberg's novel Consumed is being developed for a serialized drama at AMC. Fear the Walking Dead showrunner Dave Erickson, who will depart the zombie series at the end of the 3rd season, is teaming with Lucifer EP Sheri Elwood to adapt the novel as an hour-long drama series. Erickson and Elwood will co-write the script and showrun together. The project falls under the multi-year overall deal Erickson recently signed at AMC, which sees him leaving behind FTWD to develop new series..

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Image via Simon & Schuster

Check out the rather lengthy synopsis below, via Amazon:

The exhilarating debut novel by iconic filmmaker David Cronenberg: the story of two journalists whose entanglement in a French philosopher’s death becomes a surreal journey into global conspiracy.

 

Stylish and camera-obsessed, Naomi and Nathan thrive on the yellow journalism of the social-media age. They are lovers and competitors—nomadic freelancers in pursuit of sensation and depravity, encountering each other only in airport hotels and browser windows.

Naomi finds herself drawn to the headlines surrounding Célestine and Aristide Arosteguy, Marxist philosophers and sexual libertines. Célestine has been found dead and mutilated in her Paris apartment. Aristide has disappeared. Police suspect him of killing her and consuming parts of her body. With the help of an eccentric graduate student named Hervé Blomqvist, Naomi sets off in pursuit of Aristide. As she delves deeper into Célestine and Aristide's lives, disturbing details emerge about their sex life—which included trysts with Hervé and others. Can Naomi trust Hervé to help her?

 

Nathan, meanwhile, is in Budapest photographing the controversial work of an unlicensed surgeon named Zoltán Molnár, once sought by Interpol for organ trafficking. After sleeping with one of Molnár’s patients, Nathan contracts a rare STD called Roiphe’s. Nathan then travels to Toronto, determined to meet the man who discovered the syndrome. Dr. Barry Roiphe, Nathan learns, now studies his own adult daughter, whose bizarre behavior masks a devastating secret.

These parallel narratives become entwined in a gripping, dreamlike plot that involves geopolitics, 3-D printing, North Korea, the Cannes Film Festival, cancer, and, in an incredible number of varieties, sex.

 

Consumed is an exuberant, provocative debut novel from one of the world’s leading film directors.