Movies
D.J. Caruso Directing ‘Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ [Exclusive]
One of the most anticipated films of 2019 is Paramount Pictures’ Are You Afraid of the Dark?, a feature film adaptation of Nickelodeon’s teen-friendly ’90s television series in which a group of kids get together in the woods to tell ghost stories.
Bloody Disgusting is hearing exclusively that D.J. Caruso is in talks to direct the feature that IT writer Gary Dauberman previously said will “honor the darker, scarier tone of the show.” THR confirmed our scoop and added that the most recent draft was written by BenDavid Grabinski.
Caruso is an interesting choice as his most recent directing gigs include The Disappointments Room and xXx: Return of Xander Cage, although he also helmed the fantastic teen thriller Disturbia back in 2007.
The show revolved around a group of teenagers who referred to themselves as The Midnight Society. Every week, at a secret location in the woods, one member would tell a scary story to the rest of the group, some of which were based on public domain fairy tales, short stories or urban legends. The new film will be a completely original story told by The Midnight Society.
Paramount is targeting an October 11, 2019, release, so getting a director locked in so they can begin casting is imperative.
READ ALSO: [Video] Top 10 Episodes of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” for its 25th Anniversary
Star Kate Beckinsale and Director D.J. Caruso on the set of Relativity Studios’ THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM. Photo Credit: Peter Iovino
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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