Editorials
What is Going on With These Long-Awaited Horror Sequels? (Part 1)
When discussing horror franchises, there are a few names that immediately pop up. You’ve got your major players like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus some lesser entries like The Amityville Horror. There was a time where sequels in some of these major franchises would be released annually, as if on an assembly line. Unfortunately that is not the case anymore, as many of them have fallen victim to studio tampering or some other form of development hell. The seven franchises below have long-overdue sequels that fans are waiting for, so what’s the holdup?
Child’s Play
Who knows why we haven’t been given a seventh installment in the Child’s Play franchise. After a severe misstep with 2005’s Seed of Chucky, series creator Don Mancini went back to the series’s horror roots in 2013 when he made the vastly superior Curse of Chucky. While it’s only been three years since the film’s release, fans (myself included) are itching for another installment. And how could they not after the Tiffany/Jennifer Tilly reveal and post-credits scene featured in the film?
STATUS: Mancini and Tilly seem to be on board for a sequel. Both them and Fiona Dourif (the lead from Curse, also the daughter of Brad Dourif) Tweeted about the film back in February, but Mancini has been occupied with the Syfy series Channel Zero. Now that that is done, I think an announcement on the next Chucky movie may be imminent.
The Strangers 2
How long have we been hearing about a sequel to Bryan Bertino’s masterful horror film, The Strangers? Probably since it became the sleeper hit of summer 2008. The sequel was confirmed in September of 2008 but was put on hold until 2011, when Rogue Pictures confirmed a sequel was in development. Again, nothing ever came of it, but actress Liv Tyler confirmed the sequel and said it would be released in 2014. Fans were once again given hope last year when the sequel was announced as being back on track, with distributor Relativity Media even putting it on their schedule for a December 2, 2016 release. Unfortunately, it was taken off of the schedule again when Relativity Media declared bankruptcy in July of 2015. This also caused issues with the releases of Mike Flanagan’s Before I Wake and the upcoming Kate Beckinsale film The Disappointments Room. They emerged from bankruptcy in March of this year.
STATUS: There are no plans (as of now) to move forward with a sequel to The Strangers. Relativity Media is still recovering from their bankruptcy and has more pressing matters to worry about.
Jeepers Creepers 3
The existence of Jeepers Creepers 3 is somewhat controversial due to writer/director Victor Salva’s criminal history, but it feels like we’ve been hearing about it for years. It’s hard to believe it’s been 13 years since Jeepers Creepers 2! Jeepers Creepers 3 was officially announced in September 2015. Back in February some sales art was spotted at the European Film Market in Berlin, and Gina Phillips was said to have been reprising her role as Trish. Unfortunately, a casting call was cancelled back in March when details of Salva’s previous crimes re-surfaced. Since then, there has been little to no word on the film. It is still slated for release in 2017, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope on that. In this case, no news is not good news.
STATUS: Unknown. There has been little to no word on the film since the casting call was cancelled, but producer Stan Spry did Tweet in April that the film was not cancelled.
@landon_mcminn it is not cancelled. Producers are working on the domestic distribution deal
— Stan Spry (@stanspry) April 10, 2016
Leatherface
Believe it or not, the abomination that is Texas Chainsaw 3D was a box office success. Production company Millennium Films announced a prequel film soon after that film’s release and eventually settled on calling the film Leatherface. The film will chronicle Jackson Sawyer’s teen years and show the events that lead to him becoming Leatherface. Inside directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo directed the film, which stars Stephen Dorff (Blade) and Lili Taylor (The Conjuring). It was filmed in Bulgaria, making it the first film in the series to be filmed outside the United States.
STATUS: Leatherface is currently going through test screenings. Assuming they go well, you can expect a release date announcement to come relatively soon. Filming ended last summer though, so one has to wonder what is taking so long…
Zombieland 2
After pulling in more than three times its production budget in 2009, a sequel Zombieland was inevitable. Be that as it may, it has been six years and we still have yet to see one. While everyone involved both in front of and behind the camera was game for a sequel, it wasn’t immediately rushed into production because writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick were committed to other projects (2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation and this year’s Deadpool). In 2011 a television adaptation of the series was announced to be in production (without the original cast) and would be airing on CBS, but that fell through as well. A pilot was eventually filmed and released on Amazon Video in 2013, but the overwhelming negative response prevented it from being picked up to series.
STATUS: In Development. According to We Got This Covered, Reese and Wernick were doing press rounds for Deadpool back in February and gave this tidbit of information:
“It’s actually still in development at Sony, they’ve had a couple writers take a crack at it, we’re still exec producers and we’re guiding and helping where we can and I think there’s still very much talk about it, but I think it has to be right. I think all the actors and [original ‘Zombieland’ director] Ruben [Fleischer], all feel like there’s no reason to do it again if we’re not getting it exactly right.”
Scream 5
Because of Wes Craven’s unfortunate passing last year and the existence of a television adaptation on MTV, it’s unlikely that we will ever get a Scream 5. This is especially true considering Scream 4‘s lackluster box office performance and the behind-the-scenes drama with writer Kevin Williamson. Still, one can’t help but hope that we will one day get another sequel in the franchise that helped give the horror genre a much-needed kickstart back in 1996. Williamson did intend for Scream 4 to being a new trilogy after all, so there is hope, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
STATUS: Dead in the water. Since the MTV series started, all hope for a fourth sequel have all but evaporated.
Amityville: The Awakening
This last one is a bit of a joke since the film is completed, but it’s been pushed back so many times that it feels like we’ll never get to see it. Featuring a rather impressive cast including Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Bella Thorne (The DUFF), Cameron Monaghan (Shameless) and Jennifer Morrison (House, Once Upon a Time), the film was originally slated to be released on January 2, 2015 before being postponed until April 1, 2016. The 15-month delay was supposedly made to make time for re-shoots, but Monaghan’s schedule on Shameless prevented him from being available for a while.
STATUS: The film was postponed again and will be released on January 6, 2017 (this time because of poor responses at test screenings). Unless it gets postponed again, that will put its release at two years after it’s original date. Ouch.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article where we look at the status at some of horror’s heavy hitters!
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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