Movies
“Chase” Carries a ‘Hostel’ Vibe
Variety reports that British production company Hereford Films has acquired movie rights to the upcoming novel “Chase” from prolific horror writer Shaun Hutson. “Chase” is due to be published in the U.K. by Caffeine Nights in October.
“It follows a couple who take their eight-year-old daughter on a dream U.S. holiday, unaware of a series of child abductions and murders and a crazed cult that have spread terror across the area they intend to visit. As they travel along the highways of Colorado they are pursued not just by the forces of an unimaginable evil but also by the darkness within themselves. Nothing can prepare them for the violence, terror and depravity they are to face.”
“This is an edge of your seat horror thriller in the style of The Wicker Man with a very wide mainstream theatrical appeal,” said producer producer Damien Morley.
The option is part of a deal with the British author and his publisher Caffeine Nights that will also see Hereford take rights to Hutson’s 1988 novel “Assassin,” as well as form a new publishing brand with Caffeine Nights.
The author will adapt both “Chase” and “Assassin” for Hereford Films.
Hutson has written nearly 40 novels including 1982’s “Slugs,” which was adapted into a 1988 cult movie by Spanish director J.P. Simon, released in the U.S. by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. His work had included movie novelizations of Hammer Film Productions as well as the U.K. novelization of James Cameron’s “The Terminator.”
The trailer for Ti West’s upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol raised a lot of eyebrows when it dropped earlier this week. While plenty of folks initially dismissed Ebenezer as a derivative project meant to cash in on the recent wave of unnecessary prequels that expand the backstory of beloved characters (such as 2023’s Wonka), Charles Dickens’ original novel already made a point of exploring Ebenezer Scrooge’s origins in detail – meaning that this new film is likely just a particularly faithful adaptation of the source material under a different name.
Couple that with the fact that the movie is being helmed by a genuine horror auteur and I think it’s safe to say that the latest iteration of the first modern ghost story is in good hands.
That being said, one detail that immediately jumped out at me during the brief teaser (other than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Johnny Depp’s iconic bedroom death scene from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street) is the fact that many of Ebenezer’s ghosts appear to have been directly lifted from the iconic John Leech illustrations that accompanied the first edition of Dickens’ novel.
Here are a couple of stills from the trailer compared to the original artwork:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
The Phantoms in ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Ebenezer’
Marley’s Ghost in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
Mainly working with old-school wood and steel engravings that would later be transferred to print, Leech was instrumental in crafting the iconic look of history’s most influential phantoms – especially since Dickens is said to have been deeply involved with the creation of these so-called “comic illustrations.”
And since the novel is commonly said to have popularized spiritualism in Victorian England, much of the ghostly iconography that we still see in genre media to this very day (including some of Ti West’s previous films) can be traced back to the author’s partnership with Leech.
Ebenezer won’t be the first A Christmas Carol adaptation to borrow heavily from these designs, but I can appreciate how Ti West is incorporating an important part of horror history into his latest film.
Ebenezer will be available in theaters starting November 13.
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