Exclusives
Greg McLean Explains the Black Handprints in ‘The Darkness’
Next Friday Greg McLean will not only see his “Wolf Creek” series hit Stan, but also have his supernatural horror The Darkness open in theaters across the country.
The Darkness, which stars Silent Hill and Rogue‘s Radha Mitchell, as well as Kevin Bacon (“The Following,” Stir of Echoes), follows a family that, after a vacation at the Grand Canyon, brings home a supernatural force that preys off their own fears and vulnerabilities, threatens to destroy them from within, while also consuming their lives with terrifying consequences.
Every good horror movie has a visual cue that the audience can recognize. The Darkness is shrouded in black handprints, which canvas the posters, trailers and TV spots.
We caught up with McLean, who explained to us the original of the black handprints, which are uniquely inspired by ancient Native American art.
“I drew a lot from Native American Mythologies and rituals in my research,” McLean explains to us in an exclusive interview. “During the research I kept on seeing these hand prints in ancient cave paintings – which were symbols of death and they evolved from the idea that these demonic forces appeared via a ritual fire and left hand prints in ash. Ash also being a symbol of death and rebirth.
“There’s such incredible depth and richness to Native American culture, legends and religion one could spend a lifetime reading and studying and constantly be amazed. As someone not from the states the Native American history of the USA has always fascinated me and much of that found it’s way into the movie.”
Speaking of inspirations, McLean talks a bit about a haunting that ignited the idea behind The Darkness.
“The script idea began years ago when a friend told me a story of a real haunting that happened near where they lived,” McLean revealed. “The way it was related to me was so mundane, and the family so normal and what went down was so extreme, the concept of how the supernatural can explode into incredibly relatable circumstances stuck with me. It was a powerful moment and I thought about that for years until I came across the true stories of objects being taken from sacred sites bringing bad luck and disaster to individuals and homes. Those two thoughts were really the genesis of the movie.”
The Darkness (watch the trailer) will be opening in theaters everywhere next Friday, the 13th.
South Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho (Train to Busan, “Human Vapor“) is back this summer with a new outbreak nightmare in Colony, and new key art warns that surviving the infected hive won’t be easy.
Look for the infection horror movie in theaters on August 28, 2026.
The South Korean horror movie follows Professor Se-jeong as she is thrust into a terrifying hellscape when a mutating virus is unleashed during a biotech conference, forcing authorities to seal the facility to contain the outbreak. Se-jeong and a group of survivors must fight to stay alive as the infected undergo horrific transformations and threaten to spread the virus.
Colony marks Gianna Jun’s (Blood: The Last Vampire, “My Sassy Girl”) first feature film since 2015’s Assassination. She stars alongside Koo Kyo-hwan (Peninsula, Escape from Mogadishu).
“With Colony, [Sang-ho] takes the intensity and scale even further, delivering a bold and terrifying new vision for fans,” teases Doris Pfardrescher, President and CEO of Well Go USA.
Ji Chang-wook (“Healer”) and Shin Hyun-been (“Hospital Playlist”) also star.
Colony is presented by Showbox and produced by Wowpoint and Smilegate.
The viral outbreak horror movie is rated ‘R’ this week for “bloody violent content and some language.”
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