The Halloween season is by far one my favorite seasons of the year.  The decorations, pumpkins, haunted houses, and of course scary movies.  When it comes to horror flicks, there are none more synonymous with Halloween then the Universal Monsters series.  Come this Oct. 31, Dark Hall Mansion and artist Tom Whalen have teamed up to bring a folio set of 10 prints to your home this All Hallow’s Eve!  Better news, everyone will have an equal shot of getting these bad boys.  Hit the jump to check out some images and see how you can get a set for yourself.

Perfectly timed so you can pick it up before Halloween, Amazon’s Deal of the Day is Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection Blu-ray.  The set contains Dracula, the Spanish version of Dracula (a fascinating alternate take on the same script), Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, Phantom of the Opera, and Creature from the Black Lagoon.  I own this set and I recommend it wholeheartedly.  The transfers are incredible, the special features are insightful, and obviously the movies themselves are terrific.  I was re-watching Bride of Frankenstein last night, and it truly is one of the greatest movies ever made.  This set gives the movie and all the other films the home release they deserve.  For $64.99 (57% off), this is a steal.  Remember, Gold Box Deals are only good until the end of the day or while supplies last.

Click here to buy Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection on Blu-ray.  [Note: Collider earns a small referral fee when our readers purchase something on Amazon through one of our links. The money generated helps pay our staff and keep the site running. Thank you for reading and supporting Collider.]

20th Century Fox has set David Fincher‘s adaptation of Gillian Flynn‘s best-selling novel Gone Girl for October 3, 2014.  Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in the lead roles of a story that centers on the disappearance of a man’s wife and the resulting investigation that follows.  The cast also includes Tyler Perry, Kim Dickens, Emily Ratajkowski, Patrick Fugit, Carrie Coon, and Neil Patrick Harris.  Gone Girl will share the weekend with Dracula Untold starring Luke Evans.  The fall release date for Gone Girl isn’t too surprising when you consider that David Fincher now caries an awards pedigree, and he’s working from popular source material.

Hit the jump for new release dates for the new adaptation of Frankenstein starring Daniel Radcliffe, and for the Guillermo del Toro-produced animated film Book of Life.

One of the many films to premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival was director Alexandre Aja’s (The Hills Have Eyes) new film Horns.  Based on the novel of the same name by Joe Hill, the pic centers on Ig Perrish (Daniel Radcliffe), the main suspect in the rape and murder of his girlfriend.  He awakens one morning to find horns growing from his head, which have the ability to force confessions from strangers.  This aids him in his quest to find the real killer, and exact his revenge.  Horns also stars Juno Temple, Max Minghella, James Remar, Joe Anderson and Kelli Garner.  I caught the world premiere here at TIFF, and am happy to report the film is really well done.  Aja has managed to craft a movie that mixes together a few genres–horror, comedy, love story–and results in something unique and cool.  Plus, the entire cast is great.  Click here to watch the first clip.

The day after the world premiere, I sat down with Radcliffe and Temple for an extended video interview.  They talked about how Horns can’t be pigeonholed into one genre, working with Aja, the way they prepare for a role, what they collect, how they’re both being offered cool projects, and more.  In addition, Radcliffe talked about how excited he is to work with James McAvoy on Frankenstein later this year.  Hit the jump to watch

Some more casting news for you today:

• Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) will join Daniel Radcliffe and James McAvoy in Paul McGuigan’s untitled Frankenstein project set up at 20th Century Fox.
• Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) has joined Jeremy Garelick’s untitled comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad.
• Jim Broadbent (Cloud Atlas), Ray Stevenson (Thor) and more join Big Game, written and directed by Jalmari Helander and starring Samuel L. Jackson.
• Step Up 5 has released its full cast, which includes returning stars Ryan Guzman and Briana Evigan.

Hit the jump for more on each film.

While at Comic-Con last week, I landed at exclusive video interview with writer-director Stuart Beattie for his graphic novel adaptation I, Frankenstein.  The film stars Aaron Eckhart as a modern-day version of the creature who is being hunted by demons who want to learn the secret of his creation.  I, Frankenstein also stars Yvonne Strahovski, Bill Nighy, Socratis Otto, Miranda Otto, and Jai Courtney.  The film opens in 3D on January 24th, 2014.

During the interview, Beattie talked about finally getting to show some footage, the plot and tone, the editing process, the running time, films that are similar in tone, Easter Eggs, working with Eckhart, the status of a sequel to Tomorrow, When the War Began, future projects, and much more.  Hit the jump to watch.

Fox has finally found its Frankenstein.  While Daniel Radcliffe has been set as Igor for quite some time in 20th Century Fox’s new take on Mary Shelley’s classic Frankenstein, the studio has just now cast the titular scientist.  Deadline reports that James McAvoy will play Dr. Victor Von Frankenstein in director Paul McGuigan’s (Lucky Number Slevin, Sherlock) film, which pits the trustworthy Igor as the protagonist.  Apparently McAvoy won out over other actors like Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) and Toby Kebbell (Wrath of the Titans) who also tested for the role, but he should make for an interesting fit opposite Radcliffe.

Screenwriter Max Landis previously described this new iteration of the classic story as “fun, sad, scary, and moving,” as he wanted to present the definitive story about Igor’s inception.  McAvoy is currently busy filming X-Men: Days of Future Past, but production on Frankenstein should get underway later this year or early next year ahead of the film’s October 17, 2014 release date.

20th Century Fox has made some release date shifts and announcements.  Take a look:

• The Counselor – Director Ridley Scott’s upcoming Cormac McCarthy-scripted drama has been moved up from November to October 25th of this year.  Michael Fassbender, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, and Brad Pitt star.
• Frankenstein – The new take on the classic monster story—possibly starring Daniel Radcliffe as Igor—will hit theaters on October 17, 2014, just in time for Halloween.  Paul McGuigan (Sherlock) directs from a script by Chronicle scribe Max Landis, which he describes as “fun, sad, scary, and moving.”
• Book of Life – The Guillermo del Toro-produced animated film centered around the Day of the Dead will open on October 3, 2014, a full two years before Pixar’s take on the Mexican holiday.  Jorge R. Gutierrez directs.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks 4 – The inevitable fourth entry in the Chipmunks franchise has been set for release on December 11, 2015.

Hollywood re-imaginings of classic stories are nothing new; in fact, one is hitting theaters this weekend.  Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein has been adapted into just about every form you could think of, with the story being twisted and turned into a multitude of genres, expressing a number of different themes.  A couple of new takes on the classic story are in development at the moment, but the one that appears to be moving forward first belongs to 20th Century Fox.

Paul McGuigan (Sherlock, Lucky Number Slevin) is onboard to direct and just yesterday we learned that Daniel Radcliffe is in final negotiations to star in the lead role of Igor.  The pic boasts a script from Chronicle scribe Max Landis, and the screenwriter recently spoke at length about his take on the tale, revealing that he hopes to stay true to a version of the Frankenstein story that, in his mind, only exists in the zeitgeist.  Hit the jump to read on.

It’s been quite some time since we heard anything about 20th Centry Fox’s new adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic Frankenstein, but the last word on the project was that Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe was possibly interested in taking on a starring role.  The project has been in development for a couple of years, with Shawn Levy initially attached to direct before Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin, Sherlock) stepped in as his replacement last September.  The pic has a script by Chronicle scribe Max Landis, and now it looks as if things with Radcliffe are actually firming up as the actor is in final talks to play Igor.  Hit the jump for more.

We previously brought you release dates from Disney’s slate of 2013 films and today we have Lionsgate’s line-up. The next year will include a new installment in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise with Texas Chainsaw 3D, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to action in a leading role with The Last Stand, three films involving Tyler Perry and, of course, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. One guess as to which film will be the biggest win for Lionsgate next year. Hit the jump to see the whole schedule with release dates, posters and synopses. 

TNT is looking to further reshape the television landscape by developing Dean Koontz’s best-selling Frankenstein novels into a series and putting a six-episode series order on L.A. Noir, officially returning Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead) to TV.  James V. Hart (Dracula, Hook) and his son Jake Hart will script the modern-day retelling of the Mary Shelley mythology for the Frankenstein series.  Set in New Orleans, the story centers on a war between Dr. Victor Frankenstein and his monstrous creation, Helios. Each survived a fight in the arctic 200 years ago, but the not-so-good doctor has been busy crafting an army of creatures that answer only to him.  The two sides resume their war with New Orleans caught in the middle. Deadline reports that the elder Hart makes his series writing debut with Frankenstein, making him the most recent feature talent to transition to the small screen.  Hit the jump for more on Frankenstein as well as news on Darabont’s L.A. Noir.

It’s hard to overestimate the impact of Universal’s classic monster movies. They brought the themes and techniques of German Expressionism straight to Hometown U.S.A. and forever defined our notion of horror movies in the process. Every Halloween decoration ever made owes them some debt. Every onscreen boogeyman and misunderstood outcast can trace their roots back to them. They’ve become so ingrained in pop culture that we scarcely acknowledge their existence anymore… save during moments like this one, when they make the leap onto a new medium. As part of their 100^th anniversary celebration, Universal has packaged eight of them into an “Essentials” Blu-ray collection, a handsome set that nonetheless stumbles into a number of expected pitfalls. Hit the jump for my full review.

This week on The Collision, we talk about horror movies: what defines them, their past, their present, and their future.  What comes after found footage movies?  Are horror movies required to scare us?  How have classic horror films like the Universal Monsters movies changed over the years?  This all leads us into a discussion of Tim Burton‘s Frankenweenie, which proudly pays homage to classic monster movies. And as always, we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Summer 2012 and Lawless“), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

After it was reported that director Shawn Levy (Real Steel) was leaving the 20th Century Fox picture, Frankenstein, it seemed as if the production might stall out completely.  Then, director Paul McGuigan (Lucky Number Slevin) was in talks to take over the helm as of the beginning of the month.  Now, there are rumors that Daniel Radcliffe (The Woman in Black) is showing interest in a starring role in the Mary Shelley novel adaptation.  Hit the jump to see who Radcliffe is reportedly interested in playing.