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[2012 HORROR MOVIE PREVIEW] INDIE RELEASES

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Bloody Disgusting 2012 Horror Movie Preview

I’m out of breath. Every year we work on our annual best & worst lists, along with these 2012 previews pieces. It’s an insane amount of work that it all seems worth it when they’re all live on the site. It’s fun looking back while simultaneously projecting forward.

Next year looks great, as the several preview pieces will foreshadow. But the real gems aren’t with the big studios, it’s with the new mini majors and independent filmmakers. Ending our two week long extravaganza, inside you’ll see what the indie filmmaker has in store for 2012. What are you most excited for?

[INDIE RELEASES] 2012 HORROR MOVIE PREVIEW

FOX / SONY / DIMENSION / LIONSGATE / WARNER BROS.
PARAMOUNT / SUMMIT / UNIVERSAL / RANDOM BIG STUDIOS / INDIE

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

Dates Subject to Change

The Divide (January 13, Anchor Bay)


In this graphic and violent, post-apocalyptic thriller, nine strangers—all tenants of a New York high rise apartment—escape a nuclear attack by hiding out in the building’s bunker-like basement. Trapped for days underground with no hope for rescue, and only unspeakable horrors awaiting them on the other side of the bunker door, the group begins to descend into madness, each turning on one another with physical and psycho-sexual torment. As supplies dwindle, and tensions flare, and they grow increasingly unhinged by their close quarters and hopelessness, each act against one another becomes more depraved than the next. While everyone in the bunker allows themselves to be overcome by desperation and lose their humanity, one survivor holds onto a thin chance for escape even with no promise of salvation on the outside.

The Wicker Tree (January 27, Anchor Bay)


Young Christians Beth and Steve, a gospel singer and her cowboy boyfriend, leave Texas to preach door-to-door in Scotland . When, after initial abuse, they are welcomed with joy and elation to Tressock, the border fiefdom of Sir Lachlan Morrison, they assume their hosts simply want to hear more about Jesus. How innocent and wrong they are.

V/H/S (TBD, Bloody Disgusting/The Collective/Site B)

VHS
The best way to describe it without giving anything away is that it’s a new kind of found footage horror film from the perspective of several genre filmmakers we personally know and love. So who is part of the madness, you ask? Adam Wingard (You’re Next, A Horrible Way to Die, Pop Skull), Simon Barrett (You’re Next, Dead Birds, Read Sands), Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Roost, The Innkeepers), David Bruckner (The Signal), Joe Swanberg (Silver Bullets), Glenn McQuaid (I Sell the Dead), along with Radio Silence, the YouTube sensations formerly known as Chad, Matt and Rob (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Chad Villella)!

The Day (TBD, WWE Studios)


In a post-apocalyptic future, an open war against humanity rages. Five survivors wander along rural back-roads, lost, starving and on the run. With dwindling food stocks and ammunition, an attempt at seeking shelter turns into a battleground where they must fight or die.

John Dies at the End (TBD, Indie)


It’s a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can’t.

The Revenant (TBD, Lightning)


This breakout horror comedy centers around a fallen soldier who somehow finds he has joined the ranks of the living dead. Bart Gregory (Anders) has just recently been laid to rest – so why is he still up and walking around? The only person Bart can turn to for answers is his best friend Joey (Wylde), and before long the two pals have surmised that the blood is the life. In order to survive, Bart requires a steady supply of it. Convinced that no one will miss the drug dealers and killers who have transformed LA into a swirling cesspool of crime and vice, the two friends decide to do law enforcement a favor by cleaning up the streets while collecting the precious blood needed to keep poor Bart from withering away into dust!

The Lords of Salem (TBD, Haunted Pictures)


The story is about a local DJ who mistakenly unleashes a hellish curse on the town. 300 years earlier on the very streets of Salem that the townspeople walk on today, innocent folks were rounded up from their homes, convicted of being witches and sentenced to death. The Lords of Salem ran the town with an iron fist, but four witches who were tortured and killed in secrecy vowed that one day they would be back for revenge.

Hellbenders 3D (TBD, Indie)


A new horror comedy said to be in the vein of classics such as ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Ghostbusters.’ Taking place in modern day New York, a team of holy men (consisting of ministers and priests) battle the forces of evil.

Twixt (TBD, Indie)


A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a mysterious young ghost named V. He’s unsure of her connection to the murder in the town, but is grateful for the story being handed to him. Ultimately he is led to the truth of the story, surprised to find that the ending has more to do with his own life than he could ever have anticipated.

Maniac (TBD, Indie)


Wood plays the role of a serial killer who works at a shop that sells antique mannequins. He finds victims on the Internet and stalks them like prey, all the while suffering from hallucinations that throw him back into the past, when he was abused by his own mother. In his twisted mind, he gains a measure of revenge against his mother with each kill.

The Barrens (TBD, Anchor Bay)


Stephen Moyer will play a man who takes his family on a camping trip to the more than 1 million acres of dense forest known as the New Jersey Pine Barrens, where he becomes convinced they’re being stalked by the legendary winged monster that looks like a deformed hybrid of several different animals. The legend of The Jersey Devil has been passed along for hundreds of years, as the creature has risen from obscurity to take its place alongside the Loch Ness Monster, Big Foot and the Chupacabra.

Jaun of the Dead (TBD, Cinetic Media)


The zombie world has yet to witness one last stand – Cuba. An outbreak hits the island on the anniversary of the revolution, so Juan and his friends set out to conquer the undead who, according to government reports, are unruly Americans continuing their quest of undermining the regime.

Macabre (TBD, Bloody Disgusting Selects)


Two newly weds Adjie and Astrid, along with 3 of their best friends decided to have an interstate road trip as a last attempt to reconcile Adjie with his estranged little sister Ladya. Their trip is however abruptly interrupted when they run into Maya, a strange girl out of nowhere, who wanders aimlessly into their path. “I’ve been robbed” is all she has to say. The friends unanimously decided to give her a ride to her isolated house by the end of the woods. Maya introduces Adjie and friends to her blue-blooded mother Dara, a woman of ageless enigma and few spoken words. Dara insists that their kindness should be repaid with a dinner feast. This is where the night turns into a crimson-hell for the 6 friends, who find themselves trapped and hunted down by Dara and her cult-like family of her three deadly protégés, born and raised to systematically eliminate unsuspecting passers-by for one nefarious reason. Slaughtered one by one, everybody will bleed, the darkest of nights never looked so red.

Hellacious Acres: The Case of John Glass (TBD, Bloody Disgusting Selects)


Story centers on a man suffering from amnesia who wakes up inside a cryogenic freezer as a robotic voice bombards him with information about World War III.

The Theatre Bizarre (TBD, W2)


Directed by: Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Tom Savini, Richard Stanley. A modern horror anthology inspired by the over-the-top shocks of Paris’ early 20th century ‘Theatre du Grand Guignol’.

Under the Bed (TBD, Site B)


A suburban nightmare following two brothers who must band together to defeat a creature under the bed. It’s a love letter to early Steven Spielberg films.

The Tall Man (TBD, SND)


Jessica Biel plays a nurse living in a small town where children have gone missing over the years, leaving no clues. One night, she finds her son’s bed empty and, desperately rushing downstairs, confronts a huge dark figure, with her son in his arms.

Sleep Tight (TBD, Filmax)


The residents of the building where Cesar works as a doorman are not aware of the overtime he has been putting in. Apparently, he is at their service both day and night.

[REC] 3 Genesis (TBD, Filmax)


The original REC crew are back ready to submit their ensemble cast to another fight for survival against the zombie infection. This time to the backdrop of an original soundtrack. The new chapter will see the film “open up” by using a more traditional cinematographic style. However the film’s roots have not been forgotten and viewers will still be immersed in the action watching certain events unfold through the eye of the video camera. The action in REC 3 GENESIS encompasses the events of the first two films and after the sense of claustrophobia previously experiences. The action now takes place miles away from the original location and partly in broad daylight giving the film an entirely fresh yet disturbing new reality. The infection has left the building. In a clever twist that draws together the plots of the first two movies this third part of the saga also works as a decoder to uncover information hidden in the first two films and leaves the door open for the final installment the future REC 4 Apocalypse.

Childish Games (TBD, Filmax)


Daniel receives an unexpected, and unwanted, visit from a friend who he hasn’t seen since his childhood. His friend is obsessed with his daughter and insists that Daniel has to meet her. Daniel does his best to get rid of him and tries to forget the incident. That same night his friend commits suicide. Laura, Daniel’s wife, suggests they go to his friend’s funeral. There they meet his daughter, a little girl, barely seven years old, who since the death of her father has been taken into foster care. Laura convinces all parties that the best thing is for the little girl to go and stay with them. But the little girl’s presence in the house starts to have an adverse effect on the couple when fears and memories which Daniel thought he had long since buried start to come creeping back inside his head. The same obsessions and fears that took the life of his friend start to take control of Daniel. A growing sense of isolation engulfs Daniel in the house, which until the arrival of the little girl, he had thought belonged to him.

The Awakening (TBD, Cohen Media Group)


Haunted by the death of her fiancé, Florence Cathcart is on a mission to expose all séances as exploitative shams. However, when she is called to a boys’ boarding school to investigate a case of the uncanny, she is gradually forced to confront her skepticism in the most terrifying way, shaking her scientific convictions and her sense of self to the very core. Haunting and moving in equal measure, The Awakening is a sophisticated psychological/supernatural thriller in the tradition of ‘The Others’ and ‘The Orphanage,’ but with its own unique and thrilling twist.

Intruders (March 30, Millennium Entertainment)


Juan and Mia, two children who live in different countries, are visited every night by a faceless intruder – a terrifying being that wants to get hold of them. These presences become more powerful and start ruling their lives as well as their families’. Anxiety and tension increase when their parents also witness these apparitions.

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

Silly, Self-Aware ‘Amityville Christmas Vacation’ Is a Welcome Change of Pace [The Amityville IP]

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Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.” 

After a number of bloated runtimes and technically inept entries, it’s something of a relief to watch Amityville Christmas Vacation (2022). The 55-minute film doesn’t even try to hit feature length, which is a wise decision for a film with a slight, but enjoyable premise.

The amusingly self-aware comedy is written and directed by Steve Rudzinski, who also stars as protagonist Wally Griswold. The premise is simple: a newspaper article celebrating the hero cop catches the attention of B’n’B owner Samantha (Marci Leigh), who lures Wally to Amityville under the false claim that he’s won a free Christmas stay.

Naturally it turns out that the house is haunted by a vengeful ghost named Jessica D’Angelo (Aleen Isley), but instead of murdering him like the other guests, Jessica winds up falling in love with him.

Several other recent Amityville films, including Amityville Cop and Amityville in Space, have leaned into comedy, albeit to varying degrees of success. Amityville Christmas Vacation is arguably the most successful because, despite its hit/miss joke ratio, at least the film acknowledges its inherent silliness and never takes itself seriously.

In this capacity, the film is more comedy than horror (the closest comparison is probably Amityville Vibrator, which blended hard-core erotica with references to other titles in the “series”). The jokes here are enjoyably varied: Wally glibly acknowledges his racism and excessive use of force in a way that reflects the real world culture shift around criticisms of police work; the last names of the lovers, as well the title of the film, are obvious homages to the National Lampoon’s holiday film; and the narrative embodies the usual festive tropes of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies.

This self-awareness buys the film a certain amount of goodwill, which is vital considering Rudzinski’s clear budgetary limitations. Jessica’s ghost make-up is pretty basic, the action is practically non-existent, and the whole film essentially takes place in a single location. These elements are forgivable, though audiences whose funny bone isn’t tickled will find the basic narrative, low stakes, and amateur acting too glaring to overlook. It must be acknowledged that in spite of its brief runtime, there’s still an undeniable feeling of padding in certain dialogue exchanges and sequences.

Despite this, there’s plenty to like about Amityville Christmas Vacation.

Rudzinski is the clear stand-out here. Wally is a goof: he’s incredibly slow on the uptake and obsessed with his cat Whiskers. The early portions of the film lean on Wally’s inherent likeability and Rudzinski shares an easy charm with co-star Isley, although her performance is a bit more one-note (Jessica is mostly confused by the idiot who has wandered into her midst).

Falling somewhere in the middle are Ben Dietels as Rick (Ben Dietels), Wally’s pathetic co-worker who has invented a family to spend the holidays with, and Zelda (Autumn Ivy), the supernatural case worker that Jessica Zooms with for advice on how to negotiate her newfound situation.

The other actors are less successful, particularly Garrett Hunter as ghost hunter Creighton Spool (Scott Lewis), as well as Samantha, the home owner. Leigh, in particular, barely makes an impression and there’s absolutely no bite in her jealous threats in the last act.

Like most comedies, audience mileage will vary depending on their tolerance for low-brow jokes. If the idea of Wally chastising and giving himself a pep talk out loud in front of Jessica isn’t funny, Amityville Christmas Vacation likely isn’t for you. As it stands, the film’s success rate is approximately 50/50: for every amusing joke, there’s another one that misses the mark.

Despite this – or perhaps because of the film’s proximity to the recent glut of terrible entries – Amityville Christmas Vacation is a welcome breath of fresh air. It’s not a great film, but it is often amusing and silly. There’s something to be said for keeping things simple and executing them reasonably well.

That’s a lesson that other indie Amityville filmmakers could stand to learn.

2.5 out of 5 skulls

The Amityville IP Awards go to…

  • Recurring Gag: The film mines plenty of jokes from characters saying the quiet part (out) loud, including Samantha’s delivery of “They’re always the people I hate” when Wally asks how he won a contest he didn’t enter.
  • Holiday Horror: There’s a brief reference that Jessica died in an “icicle accident,” which plays like a perfect blend between a horror film and a Hallmark film.
  • Best Line: After Jessica jokes about Wally’s love of all things cats to Zelda, calling him the “cat’s meow,” the case worker’s deadpan delivery of “Yeah, that sounds like an inside joke” is delightful.
  • Christmas Wish: In case you were wondering, yes, Santa Claus (Joshua Antoon) does show up for the film’s final joke, though it’s arguably not great.
  • Chainsaw Award: This film won Fangoria’s ‘Best Amityville’ Chainsaw award in 2023, which makes sense given how unique it is compared to many other titles released in 2022. This also means that the film is probably the best entry we’ll discuss for some time, so…yay?
  • ICYMI: This editorial series was recently included in a profile in the The New York Times, another sign that the Amityville “franchise” will never truly die.

Next time: we’re hitting the holidays in the wrong order with a look at November 2022’s Amityville Thanksgiving, which hails from the same creative team as Amityville Karen <gulp>

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