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The Top 10 Horror Films We Can’t Wait To See in 2017

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stephen king adaptations

6) THE DARK TOWER – July 28th

One of the cool things about 2017 is that the work of Stephen King is going to have a large presence at the box office, which is nice to see given how many of his novels have been turned into straight-to-video crap over the years. Long-gestating feature film The Dark Tower finally makes the leap to the big screen next year after years of false starts, and with Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey in the lead roles, we’ve got nothing but good feelings about this one. The Nikolaj Arcel-directed film is expected to be the first in an epic small and big screen franchise.

Speaking of King adaptations…

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7) STEPHEN KING’S IT – September 8th

Jonathan Barkan recently wrote a piece here on BD where he expressed the opinion that the 1990 adaptation of IT just isn’t very good, and everything he wrote echoed my own feelings when I re-watched the miniseries earlier this year. It’s a great story told pretty damn poorly by that adaptation, and as good as Tim Curry was as Pennywise, even he couldn’t save it. And that’s the main reason why I’m so excited to see Mama director Andy Muschietti’s feature adaptation, which will be split into two parts. Can he do the story the proper justice it deserves? I’ve got faith.

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8) FRIDAY THE 13TH – October 13th

A brand new reboot of the Friday the 13th franchise has been on again, off again so many times that we sincerely have our doubts about it being released next year, but last we heard production was set to begin this coming Spring, so maybe Paramount and Platinum Dunes are finally ready to roll. Aaron Guzikowski (Prisoners) wrote the script and Breck Eisner (The Crazies) is set to direct Jason’s big return, which may or may not be set in the ’80s and may or may not explore the Voorhees family. All we know for sure is that it’s DEFINITELY not going to be found footage!

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9) INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 4 – October 20th

How cool is it that Lin Shaye is the star of her own horror franchise?! Shaye reprises the role of parapsychologist Elise Rainier for next year’s Insidious: Chapter 4, which will again be a prequel to the first two films. As Shaye recently revealed, the fourth installment will dig deeper into Elise’s backstory and family life, and it’s set directly after the events of the third film. Leigh Whannell returned to write the script and will also play Specs once more, and the real exciting thing about this one is that it was directed by The Taking of Deborah Logan‘s Adam Robitel. Yup. Sold.

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10) SAW: LEGACY – October 27th

If it’s Halloween… it must be Saw. The Saw franchise was a Halloween staple at the box office between the years of 2004 and 2010, and after a seven year absence, the franchise returns to the big screen this coming October. We don’t yet know much of anything about Saw: Legacy – will it be a sequel, a reboot, or a standalone film? – but it seems that filming has already wrapped with brothers Peter and Michael Spierig (Daybreakers) in the director’s chairs. Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger (Piranha 3D, Sorority Row) wrote the script. Will be nice to have you back, Billy!

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11) UNTITLED CLOVERFIELD MOVIE – October 27th

Okay so we lied. We couldn’t choose only ten!

Originally slated for release in February, the J.J. Abrams-produced God Particle was just bumped back to October and will apparently undergo a title change that will make it part of the Cloverfield Universe that began with the 2008 found footage movie and continued with this year’s 10 Cloverfield Lane. The film, directed by Julius Onah, tells the story of a team of astronauts who make a shocking discovery and end up fighting for survival in what is described as an altered reality. How strongly will it connect to the franchise? Will sure be interesting to find out.

Other notable horror movies headed our way in 2017 include Annabelle 2, Flatliners, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Rings, and Underworld: Blood Wars.

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Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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.

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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.

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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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