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2011 HORROR MOVIE PREVIEW: VARIOUS FILMS

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My favorite of the preview pieces is always the random studio releases. This year there are so many crazy films getting limited releases, courtesy to IFC Films and Magnet Releasing/Magnolia Pictures. Then we’ve got Mother’s Day and the remake of Fright Night from other studios, not to mention 11-11-11, The Troll Hunters, A Horrible Way to Die, The Howling Reborn and MANY more! What are you most excited for?

–VARIOUS FILMS 2011 HORROR MOVIE PREVIEW–

SONY / LIONSGATE & AFTER DARK / SUMMIT / WARNER BROS. & NEW LINE
PARAMOUNT / UNIVERSAL / DIMENSION / RELATIVITY / VARIOUS

CLICK ANY IMAGE FOR SYNOPSES, TRAILERS, DETAILS & MORE STILLS (If Available)

Dates Subject to Change

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET (January 7 (VOD), Magnet/Magnolia)


When a massive power blackout causes the population to inexplicably vanish, a small handful of survivors (Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo) band together inside a desolate tavern struggling to survive as the darkness hones in on them. From director Brad Anderson (Session 9, The Machinist, Transsiberian) comes an apocalyptic thriller with a terrifying vision of our world’s end and a story that wrestles with the nature of existence itself.

BLACK DEATH (February 4, Magnet/Magnolia)


Medieval England has fallen under the shadow of The Black Death. In this apocalyptic world, filled with fear and superstition, a young monk called Osmund is charged with leading a fearsome knight, Ulric (Sean Bean) and his group of mercenaries to a remote marsh. Their quest is to hunt down a necromancer – someone able to bring the dead back to life. Torn between his love of God and the love of a young woman, Osmund discovers the necromancer, a mysterious beauty called Langiva. After Langiva reveals her Satanic identity and offers Osmund his heart’s desire, the horror of his real journey begins….

BEASTLY (March 18, STUDIO)


When a spell is cast on a handsome egocentric young man (Alex Pettyfer) that physically transforms him into everything he despises, he has one year to find a young woman (Vanessa Hudgens) who will love him despite his hideous form or the spell will last forever.

THE RESIDENT (March 29, Image Entertainment)


Hilary Swank plays a doctor who moves into a Brooklyn loft. Becoming suspicious that she’s not alone in her new home, she discovers her landlord is a stalker.

MOTHER’S DAY (April 1, Gigapix Studio)


From Saw II-IV director Darren Lynn Bousman, three brothers on the run from the law head for home, only to discover that their mother lost the house in a foreclosure. Mother ingeniously orchestrates her sons’ escape, teaching the house’s new owners and their guests a few lessons along the way.

RISE OF THE APES (June 24, Twentieth Century Fox)


Described as an origin story, Apes is set in present day San Francisco and deals with the aftermath of man’s experiments with genetic engineering that lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. Franco will play a driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes.

FRIGHT NIGHT 3D (August 19, DreamWorks/Disney)


Senior Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) finally has it all going on: he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the most coveted girl in his high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend. But trouble arrives when Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right–but everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Toni Collette), doesn’t notice. After observing some very strange activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on the neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself in this Craig Gillespie-helmed revamp of the comedy-horror classic.

11-11-11 (November 11, Epic Pictures)


From Saw II-IV director Darren Lynn Bousman, on 11-11-11 a gateway will open and something from another world will pass into ours.

BATTLE ROYALE 3D (TBD, Anchor Bay)


42 high school students are forced to kill each other on an uninhabited island.

A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE (TBD, Anchor Bay)


Sarah is starting life over. After her last relationship ended with a revelation that sent her boyfriend, Garrick, to a life sentence in prison, Sarah had no choice but to leave her past behind. Now that she’s been relocated to a small town and given a new identity, Sarah’s embracing the opportunity to start life fresh. Unfortunately for Sarah, the past won’t let go. Garrick escapes prison and discovers Sarah’s new location, then blazes a violent trail across the country to track her down and disrupt her seemingly perfect new life.

THE HOWLING REBORN (TBD, Anchor Bay)


When the lights go down … The Moon will rise … And a Legend will be REBORN. On the eve of his high school graduation, unremarkable Will Kidman finally bonds with the girl he has long yearned for, reclusive Eliana Wynter. But he also discovers a dark secret from his past… that he is about to become a werewolf. Now, in an effort to fight destiny and save their love as well as their lives, they must battle not only Will’s growing blood lust but an army of fearsome beasts bent on killing them… and then, us all.

I SAW THE DEVIL (TBD, Magnet/Magnolia)


A hard-boiled thriller, I Saw The Devil stars Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) as a psychopathic serial killer up against Lee Byung-hun as a special agent whose fiancée becomes one of his victims. Lee’s cool-headed and intelligent character in turn becomes a monster in order to avenge the killing.

THE TROLL HUNTER (TBD, Magnet/Magnolia)


Shot in a vérité style, The Troll Hunter is the story of a group of Norwegian film students that set out to capture real-life trolls on camera after learning their existence has been covered up for years by a government conspiracy. A thrilling and wildly entertaining film, Hunter is said to deliver truly fantastic images of giant trolls wreaking havoc on the countryside, with darkly funny adherence to the original Norwegian folklore.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (TBD, IFC Films)


One family left destitute when her father and leader, from the time his three sons and his widow facing a storm. The four will have to face him his worst nightmare: getting food into their own hands. Continue with its rituals is vital to eat human flesh to survive. Now, by decree, the eldest brother, a teenage misfit, must lead his people to preserve their cannibalistic tradition, unaware that, in the attempt, will have to sacrifice their own lives.

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE PART 2: THE FULL SEQUENCE (TBD, IFC Films)


A 12-person centipede. The only information IFC Films and the producers are revealing is that this time there is a new villain on the scene named Martin, and that the premise is 100% medically inaccurate!

DREAM HOME (TBD, IFC Films)


Cheng Lai-sheung, a young, upwardly mobile professional finally ready to invest in her first home. But when the deal falls through, she is forced to keep her dream alive — even if it means keeping her would-be neighbors dead. Pang Ho-Cheung’s disturbingly imaginative violence unfolds against a backdrop of lifestyle fetishization and the housing market crisis in this metropolitan spin on Guignol horror.

RED STATE (TBD)


A group of kids encounter a crazed preacher (based on Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church) who gives a whole new meaning to the term “extreme fundamentalism.

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (TBD, MGM)


Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison), a lonely, withdrawn child, has just arrived in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) at the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the sprawling estate, the young girl discovers a hidden basement, undisturbed since the strange disappearance of the mansion’s builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creatures who conspire to drag her down into the mysterious house’s bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it’s not a fantasy–before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all.

BURKE & HARE (TBD, Ealing)


An American Werewolf in London director John Landis’ Burke & Hare is a comedic take on the true story of the 1828 Edinburgh body-snatchers William Burke (Simon Pegg) and William Hare (Andy Serkis). These two Irish entrepreneurs discover that a dead body can fetch a hefty price when the demands of the leading medical professors Dr. Knox (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr. Monroe (Tim Curry) reach beyond that of the local supply.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (TBD, Hammer Films)


The Woman in Black follows a young lawyer, Arthur Kipps, who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, Kipps begins to uncover tragic secrets, and his unease grows when he glimpses a mysterious woman dressed only in black.

A SERBIAN FILM (TBD, Invincible)


Milosh, a retired porn star, now leads a normal family life with his beautiful wife Maria and six year-old son Petar, in tumultuous Serbia, trying to make ends meet. A sudden call from his former colleague Laylah will change everything. Aware of his financial problems, Laylah introduces Milosh to Vukmir – mysterious, menacing and politically powerful figure. A leading role in Vukmir’s new production will provide financial support to Milosh and his family for the rest of their lives. Milosh is hesitant at first because the contract insists that he know nothing about the script before they shoot. But finally, he agrees. From then on, Milosh is drawn into a maelstrom of unbelievable cruelty and mayhem devised by his employer, ”the director” of his destiny – Vukmir, relentless in his attempt to make an ultimate artistic porn film. Vukmir and his cohorts will stop at nothing to complete his vision. In order to escape the living cinematic hell he’s put into and save his family life, Milosh will have to sacrifice everything – his pride, his morality, his sanity, and maybe even his own life.

THE INNKEEPERS (TBD, Dark Sky Films)


The pic is centered around the final two employees working in a haunted hotel before it goes out of business. After over one hundred years in business, The Yankee Pedlar Hotel is about to close its doors for good. The last remaining clerks, Claire (Sara Paxton), a twenty something that has come to terms with her lot in life, and Luke (Pat Healy), a computer-smart loner, are convinced that the hotel is haunted and are determined to prove it. As time ticks down to the final days of operation, mysterious guests check in including Leanne Rease-Jones (Kelly McGillis), a former TV actress turned psychic, and an old man insistent on staying in room 353. As several strange occurrences begin to add up, both Claire and Luke must make the crucial decision on what to believe and what not to believe…

THE HAUNTING IN GEORGIA (TBD, Gold Circle Films)


Shortly after moving into their ideal new home, a couple grows concerned when their young daughter begins encountering mysterious strangers that no one else can see. The couple’s greatest fear is realized when they themselves begin to witness terrifying phenomena in and around the house, providing clues that could unlock a chilling mystery that has remained a closely guarded secret for generations.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.

The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.

Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.

LEPRECHAUN

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).

It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.

The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.

LEPRECHAUN RETURNS sequel

Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.

Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.

Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.


Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.

The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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