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, Blumhouse is officially moving forward on the long-discussed The Purge TV series with a new independent television studio where franchise creator James DeMonaco will shepherd the series for USA and Syfy. Jason Statham talked up his upcoming primordial shark adventure Meg, saying the film is a Jaws and Jurassic Park hybrid, which sounds like quite possibly the most marketable movie of all time.

Elsewhere, Billie Lourd joins American Horror Story Season 7, Demien Bichir boards The Conjuring spinoff, The Nun, festival hit Hounds of Love gets a new poster, and Don Coscarelli offers updates on the possibility of Phantasm 6, a film that would be tricky to pull off without the late Angus Scrimm, but isn't out of the question. Plus, a trailer for the Phantasm Collection, the kickass Phantasm DVD box that drops next week.

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.

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 Interviews:

 Reviews:

Blumhouse Confirms 'The Purge' TV Series for USA and Syfy

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Image via Universal Pictures

Blumhouse is on a roll this year. After raking it in with their runaway hits Split and Get Out, the production company has announced the launch of an independent television studio in partnership with ITV studios. First project on the docket: the long discussed television adaptation of their hit film franchise The Purge, which series creator James DeMonaco will oversee to air on both USA and SyFy.

Blum said in a statement,

“Over the past few years, we have been working to build Blumhouse Television into an independent studio so we can have the autonomy to work with the best storytellers and give them freedom to create the best dark genre programming. It is a dream that day is here. Julian and his team at ITV are remarkable partners and we can’t wait to kick things off with The Purge and Secure and Hold. We are excited that with the launch of this new studio, we are expanding our partnership with NBCUniversal by growing The Purge franchise into a television series and are grateful for their incredible support of Blumhouse overall.”

Blumhouse Television will also take the lead on Secure and Hold: THe Last Days of Roger Ailes, a limited scripted series based on Gabriel Sherman's reports on the infamous Fox News founder. Spotlight direcotr Tom McCarthy is shepherding the series, which is in development at Showtime.

Read the full announcement over at Blumhouse.

Jason Statham Says 'Meg' Is 'Jaws' Meets 'Jurassic Park'

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Image via Lionsgate

I don't feel like there's enough hype going on about Meg, the upcoming international actioner that will pit Jason Statham against a gigantic prehistoric shark known as the Megalodon. Not only is Statham vs Shark a championship match for the ages, it's based on the beloved book of the same name and National Treasure and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice director Jon Turteltaub helmed the sci-fi adventure, so it's bound to be a crowd-pleasing romp.

During an appearance on the Jim & Sam show, Statham offered up a tantalizing new description:

I just did a movie about a shark. It’s a cross between, I’d say, Jaws and Jurassic Park. It turned out really good. I mean, apparently. We don’t know until we see it. It’s called Meg, as in megalodon.

Now, it's almost impossible that Meg will be anywhere near as good as either of Steven Spielberg's definitive action-adventure films, let alone the miracle child of both. However, it does give a fun idea of the vibe they're going for and that sounds like a movie I'm all-in on.

We'll figure out how well they pulled it off when Meg arrives in theaters on March 2, 2018. Here’s the official synopsis:

A deep-sea submersible—part of an international undersea observation program—has been attacked by a massive creature, previously thought to be extinct, and now lies disabled at the bottom of the deepest trench in the Pacific…with its crew trapped inside. With time running out, expert deep sea rescue diver Jonas Taylor (Statham) is recruited by a visionary Chinese oceanographer (Winston Chao), against the wishes of his daughter Suyin (Li Bingbing), to save the crew—and the ocean itself—from this unstoppable threat: a pre-historic 75-foot-long shark known as the Megalodon. What no one could have imagined is that, years before, Taylor had encountered this same terrifying creature. Now, teamed with Suyin, he must confront his fears and risk his own life to save everyone trapped below…bringing him face to face once more with the greatest and largest predator of all time.

Don Coscarelli's Not Ruling Out 'Phantasm 6'

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Image via AVCO Embassy Pictures

Don Coscarelli's long-running Phantasm franchise still remains a unique entry in the horror cannon all these years later. There's still just nothing like it. The Phranchise (sorry) seemingly came to a close last year with Phantasm: Ravager, the microbudget film from director David Hartman that felt a fitting return to the reality bending roots of the saga while also delivering the most insane, epic set pieces to date. When our iconic Tall Man Angus Scrimm passed away during the film's post production, that seemed to be the signifier that the story was truly at its end.

But perhaps not! Here's what Coscarelli told the folks over at Bloody Disgusting when they asked about the possibility of a sixth film:

"I remember being at the premiere last year of ‘Phantasm Ravager’ at Fantastic Fest. I was sitting by director David Hartman and as ‘Ravager’ ended, the audience burst into applause. For both of us it was a huge relief, we had finally finished one of the most ambitious micro-budget movies ever made and our core fan base responded the way we hoped. It was a very long path, full of difficulty and hardship and we had suffered some losses. Our ‘Phantasm’ icon and good friend Angus Scrimm had passed just as post-production ended. But we had successfully finished what we considered to be the final chapter of this iteration of ‘Phantasm’… And then Dave and I went up onstage with the cast and did a Q+A with Tim League and I think the first question was, ‘When’s part 6 coming out?’ We heard this question again and again at subsequent screenings."

 

“God love ’em, but ‘Phantasm’ fans are insatiable. Obviously, the loss of Angus makes the prospect of another sequel challenging. So I guess the short answer is that we aren’t currently planning another sequel at this time. That being said, we always do listen closely to what our long time fans say.”

 

“In any case, next week, like a lot of people, I’m going to break open a copy of the new ‘Phantasm’ collection box set and watch all the movies in a row. Really looking forward to that!”

Coscarelli is a brilliant man with a singular cinematic compass, so if he thinks he's got another Phantasm story in him after watching all the films, I'm going to be there to buy a ticket. I don't love the idea of Phantasm without Scrimm, but there's no way anyone involved in these films would ever do anything less than honor his legacy, so I'll trust in their judgement.

For now, get hyped for the gorgeous Phantasm collection box with the trailer below and stay tuned for a more in-depth review next week.

Billie Lourd Joins 'American Horror Story' Season 7

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Image via Fox

Scream Queens star Billie Lourd is the latest performer to join Ryan Murphy's rotating cast of regulars. The actress has signed on for the seventh season of FX mainstay American Horror Story, alongside announced returning cast members Sarah Paulson and Evan Peters and fellow newcomer Billy Eichner. Scream Queens wrapped up Season 2 in December and is not expected to return for a third season, with castmembers like Lourd and Lea Michelle already moving on to other projects.

After keeping Roanoke's theme under lock and key until the Season 6 premiere, Murphy let the cat out of the bag early with Election, though he is keeping details under wraps. Here's what the creator previously had to say about his approach to the hot button topic:

Horror Story is always about allegory, so the election is allegory. It’s our jumping off point. It is about the election we just went through and what happened on that night and the fallout of that night, which to many people, from all sides of the camps is a horror story. And you know, that show is always so fun when it’s about the zeitgeist and what we’re doing now.

Demien Bichir Joins 'Conjuring' Spinoff 'The Nun'

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Image via New Line Cinema

New Line's ever-growing The Conjuring universe has picked up Oscar-nominated actor Demien Bichir to star in the latest spinoff spook, The Nun. Based on the demonic character that debuted in James Wan's The Conjuring 2, The Nun has recruited director Corin Hardy and per The Hollywood Reporter, the film will star Bichir as a priest named Father Burke who is dispatched by Rome to investigate the mysterious death of a nun.

The report notes that Wan, who co-wrote the script with It screenwriter Gary Dauberman, remains "deeply involved" with the project and is producing via his Atomic Monster label with Peter Safran. The evil nun is the second character spinoff from the Conjuring franchise, following in the footsteps of the creepy doll Annabelle.

The Nun is set to arrive in theaters on July 13, 2018 and is expected to film this summer in Romania.

New 'Hounds of Love' Poster Teases the Festival Sensation

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Hounds of Love has earned quite a bit of buzz after making the rounds at the festival circuit, most recently drumming up a new round acclaim at SXSW. The film follows a young woman who is abducted off the street by a disturbed couple and quickly realizes the only way to survive is to drive a wedge between them.  The feature film debut from writer-director Ben Young, Hounds of Love is currently sitting pretty with 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Here's the official synopsis:

In suburban Perth during the mid 1980s, people are unaware that women are disappearing at the hands of serial killer couple John and Evelyn White. After an innocent lapse in judgment, Vicki Maloney is randomly abducted by the disturbed couple. With her murder imminent, Vicki realizes she must find a way to drive a wedge between Evelyn and John if she is to survive. Hounds of Love is an exercise in expertly-crafted tension, offering a bold, challenging debut from writer/director Ben Young.

Collider Nightmares Is Back!

Collider Nightmares debuted this week with the new monthly format, and we came out swinging with an exclusive interview with The Devil's Candy star Ethan Embry and a scoop-filled chat with Guillermo del Toro, who gave us the lowdown on Pacific Rim 2 and what went wrong with At the Mountains of Madness.

On this month’s episode of Collider Nightmares (Wednesday, April 5, 2017) Clarke Wolfe, Perri Nemiroff, Jon Schnepp and Mark Reilly discuss the following:

  • Stephen King‘s IT teaser trailer
  • Guillermo del Toro Interview
  • Jordan Peele discusses Get Out alternate ending

Trailer Trash: 'Pool Party Massacre', 'Lycan'

POOL PARTY MASSACRE https://www.youtube.com/embed/I3EM6gsM5DU

Blair Winthorpe, a high-maintenance young socialite, is having a pool party while her parents are out of town. What should have been a relaxing summer day spent tanning for the girls quickly becomes a blood-soaked nightmare when an unknown guest crashes the party. He finds a garage full of dangerous toys and gets to work stalking and dismembering them one by one.

BREAKDOWN LANE https://www.youtube.com/embed/WJ4C-LLj4NI

When Kirby Lane’s SUV stalls in the desert, she must overcome the elements… and the lurking undead that surround her. Her only companion is Max, the Emergency Car Service rep trapped in his office by the zombie apocalypse, and the lone voice guiding her home.

I REMEMBER YOU https://www.youtube.com/embed/adFeU3OlbbU

After an older lady hangs herself in a church, a new psychiatrist discovers she was obsessed with the disappearance of his eight-year-old son, who vanished three years earlier. Meanwhile, three city dwellers are restoring a house when they realize it is haunted, and a mysterious child named Bernodus, who disappeared 60 years earlier, is discovered as the link between the two groups.

BEACON POINT https://www.youtube.com/embed/6BAPEKv8vnw

Zoe has quit her job to hike the Appalachian Trail as a tribute to her deceased father. She joins a small group of inexperienced hikers for an adventure of a lifetime. The group is, Dan, recently divorced and looking for a change from Silicon Valley, Cheese, a 17 year old kid, and Brian, his half brother he has just met. They are led by Drake, a hot headed trail master with a questionable past. They are upbeat as they set out on the ten day trek through the Great Smokey Mountains. Drake leads them away from the main trail and the tourists, promising a grand adventure and sights they’d never see with the standard tour. After a gruesome discovery, they become lost deep in the mountains. The adventure spins out of control when they are terrorized at their campsite by an unseen force.

LYCAN https://www.youtube.com/embed/YFXIpkyW30g

When six college kids in a sleepy Southern town are assigned a group project to rediscover a moment in history, one of them sets in motion a horrific fate when he proposes they head into the Georgia backwoods to tackle the legend of Emily Burt, the Talbot County werewolf. “Talbot County” is a Hitchcockian tale of horror set in 1986 that delves into a hundred-year-old fable where our students are met with very real consequences that go beyond any classroom lessons.

NAILS https://www.youtube.com/embed/sxg2hBW3mIg

Nails follows the story of Dana Milgrom, a track coach who, having survived a near-death car accident, finds herself completely paralyzed and trapped inside her own body. While recovering, she becomes convinced that an evil presence exists inside her hospital room and is intent on killing her – and she may not be the only target.

THE OSIRIS CHILD: VOLUME ONE https://www.youtube.com/embed/lXy5GTk7_c0

Set in a time of interplanetary colonization, Sy Lombrok (Kellan Lutz), a former nurse who is now a drifter with a haunted past, forms an unlikely alliance with Kane Sommerville (Daniel MacPherson), a lieutenant who works for off-world military contractor Exor. In a race against time they set out to rescue Kane’s young daughter Indi (Teagan Croft) amid an impending global crisis precipitated by Exor.

REYES https://www.youtube.com/embed/wM7ApEOvPi0