Exclusives
The Curse of ‘The Grudge’: The Franchise Will Never Die
EXCLUSIVE BREAKING: Bloody Disgusting has learned that Ghost House Pictures and Mandate are currently developing another remake of the Japanese Ju-on franchise.
Before the 2004 American remake, The Grudge, Ju-on was originally released as two low-budget straight-to-video Japanese television movies in 2000. Three years later, due to the success of the videos, Takashi Shimizu, director of all, made a theatrical version based on the videos, titled Ju-on: The Grudge.
Now, it gets tricky as that version spawned a sequel titled Ju-on: The Grudge 2. A year later Takashi Shimizu directed The Grudge, an American remake. It is based on the theatrical version of Ju-on, but it contains scenes re-enacted from all of the Ju-on movies. (Wikipedia)
Continuing the franchise into infamy, Ghost House released The Grudge 2 theatrically in 2006 and The Grudge 3 direct to video in 2009.
Next up, another reboot, although it’s unclear to Bloody if this is to go direct-to-home video or hit theaters. A Grudge 4 was originally debunked back in 2009. This will mark the eighth film in the franchise.
A gnarly infection threatens to claw its way out of a moving camper in the first trailer for Shudder’s claustrophobic Hellcat.
The feature debut of writer/editor/director Brock Bodell, who previously edited the Fantasia title Ultrasound, makes its debut on Shudder on August 23.
In Hellcat, “Lena wakes up in a moving camper trailer with a horrifying wound. She’s warned by the driver that they have one hour to get to a doctor, or she’ll succumb to an unimaginably awful fate. As the pain sets in and reality begins to fray, who should really be afraid?”
Dakota Gorman (Natural Disasters) leads the cast that also includes Todd Terry (“Breaking Bad”), Liz Atwater (The Other People), Jordan Mullins (The Bikeriders), and James Austin Johnson (“Saturday Night Live”) in a voice role. Bodell also produces alongside Andrew Duensing and Nate Eggert.
Hellcat made its world premiere last summer at Fantasia. I wrote in my review, “Hellcat is a bit of a Trojan horror that defies easy classification, by design. Bodell’s sneaky debut feature is occasionally too sparse in its worldbuilding in its bid to preserve the mystery, but not enough to detract from the thrilling road thriller that transforms into a completely left-field type of horror we don’t get nearly enough of. The stripped-down tribute to a classic horror staple catches you off guard in more ways than one, marking Bodell as one to watch.”
In other words, there’s a lot more than meets the eye to Hellcat‘s simple infection setup, delivering plenty of surprises along its bumpy road of horrors.
Check out the trailer and poster below and add Hellcat to your watchlists asap.
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