Editorials
The Top 10 Horror Films We Can’t Wait To See in 2017
This year was an awesome one for horror. Will 2017 be even better?
The end of the year is a time to look both backwards and forwards, reflecting on the best that the year gave us and looking ahead to all that awaits in the twelve months to come. As a movie fan, a new year is particularity exciting because there’s always so much to look forward to on screens both big and small. And 2017, particularly for the horror genre, is damn sure no exception.
Today we wanted to shine the spotlight on ten horror movies we cannot wait to see in 2017, but before we begin, a quick note. You won’t see upcoming films such as Leatherface, the so-called Chucky 7, or the new Halloween reboot on the list, and that’s simply because we currently have no idea when they’re actually going to come out. So please don’t yell at us for “forgetting” them!
Oh and these are ordered by release date, rather than level of excitement.
Get it? Got it? Good. Let’s begin!
1) SPLIT – January 20th
A big horror movie is going to be hitting the big screen nearly every single week of January, the month kicking off with Underworld: Blood Wars and ending with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Nestled in-between those two franchise films is M. Night Shyamalan’s thriller Split, which stars James McAvoy as a man with 24 different personalities inside of him. Shyamalan proved with The Visit that he can still craft a compelling horror story, so we’re excited about this one. It feels safe to expect a great performance from McAvoy and of course, some kind of twist. Cause duh.
2) GET OUT – February 24th
Comedian Jordan Peele heads into the horror genre next year with directorial debut Get Out, and if the trailer is any indication, it’s set to be the most timely horror movie released in 2017. The film, which looks to be laced with social commentary, stars Daniel Kaluuya as a black man who visits his white girlfriend’s family estate and discovers a sinister reason behind the invitation. Horror movies have never shied away from tackling cultural issues and making topical statements about the real world, and we’re happy to see Peele bringing that to the genre next year.
3) THE BELKO EXPERIMENT – March 17th
A trailer or plot wasn’t even required to get me excited about The Belko Experiment, and that’s because of the two creative forces behind the “Office Space meets Battle Royale” horror flick. Written by James Gunn (Dawn of the Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy) and directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek), Belko is set in a high-rise corporate office and centers on a group of employees who have been tasked with killing their co-workers or, well, being killed themselves. Joe Lipsett already reviewed the film for BD, calling it a “cocktail of murder and laughs.” Yes please.
4) ALIEN: COVENANT – May 19th
Personally speaking, there’s no movie I’m more excited about in 2017 than Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant, which looks to be way more of a direct Alien prequel than the Prometheus sequel it was originally billed as. Michael Fassbender reprises the role of android David in the new franchise installment, set on an uncharted planet that’s infested with familiar-looking monsters. Early footage was recently shown off to the press and the reactions have indicated that Covenant will be dark, terrifying, and incredibly violent. Say no more. My ticket is already bought.
5) THE MUMMY – June 9th
Universal’s rebooted monsters universe kicks off this coming summer with the Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy, and at this moment in time, we have our doubts about how much of a horror movie it will be. Judging by the trailer, it looks like Universal is rebooting their iconic monster movies as blockbuster action flicks, but we’re willing to give this one a chance before rushing to judgement. If nothing more, Sofia Boutella looks totally badass as the film’s female mummy, and I suppose it’s nice to see so much money and star-power being pumped into monster movies.
Here’s hoping they’re, ya know, at least sort of horror films.
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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