Heya, horror folks! Welcome back to the weekly round up of all things genre-oriented. We had a hell of a doozy last week, so naturally this week a bit slower. However, there were two pretty major bits of news. First, The Purge is coming back (of course) with creatorJames DeMonacoreturning to write the script and assisting with the hunt for a new director. Second, in the realm of TV, we’re getting a new series from the powerhouse combo ofStephen KingandJ.J. Abrams, set in the world of King’s fictional New England town, Castle Rock. Aside from those two biggies, it’s been a pretty low key week in the horror department, but as ever, I’ve rounded up the best bits for you below.
For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site, you can click through the links below. Then, check out other genre highlights from the week, including the latest episode of Collider Nightmares, and finish it all up with a rundown of the week in horror movie trailers. Thanks for tuning in, and be sure to sound off in the comments with your thoughts, questions, and other horror musings.
INTERVIEWS
‘The Purge 4’ Set for 2018
In a surprise move to absolutely nobody, Universal and Blumhouse have set a release date for a new installment in the hugely successfulThe Purgefranchise. Franchise creatorJames DeMonacowill return to pen the script, but for the first time,The Purgewill get a new director with DeMonaco working “closely with the production team to identify” the new helmer. The great thing aboutThe Purgeis the insane amount of storytelling opportunities it provides, and given that the last film (SPOILERS) ended with a political victory that saw The Purge abolished, I’ll be interested to see if they treat this as a proper sequel or take it in a prequel direction. Either way, there was no chance they were going to miss the opportunity for this in the Trump age, especially when he borrowed their slogan.
Frank Grillorecently told ushe might be done with the franchise(which is kind of tragic considering it’s the first franchise to really utilize his leading man talents) and we know he’s headed off to doThe Raidremake withJoe Carnahan, so it will be interesting to see what Monaco cooks up for the next installment.
Here’s the official annoucement.
On Independence Day, 2018, experiencethenext terrifying chapter in our country’s 12 hours of annual lawlessness. Coming offthemost successful film intheseries,ThePurge: Election Year, creator James DeMonaco (writer/director ofThePurge,ThePurge: AnarchyandThePurge: Election Year) returns alongsidetheproducers of this worldwide phenomenon: Blumhouse Productions’ Jason Blum (Insidiousseries,TheVisit,Split), Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesandOuijaseries,TheTexas Chainsaw Massacre), and DeMonaco’s longtime production partner, Sébastien K. Lemercier (Assault on Precinct 13,Four Lovers).Thescreenplay fortheUNTITLED NEXTPURGECHAPTER is written by DeMonaco, who will work closely withtheproduction team to identify a new director fortheupcoming film.
Stephen King Calls Mike Flanagan’s Gerald’s Game “Horrifying” and “Hypnotic”
Gerald’s Gameis one of the most under-appreciatedStephen Kingnovels. It doesn’t have the flash of some of his more famous works and it has a remarkably simple story – a woman is left handcuffed to the bed after her husband dies in the middle of kinky sex games – but it’s a chilling tale about vulnerability and isolation that seems all but impossible to adapt to film. EnterOcculusandHushhelmerMike Flanagan, who mounted the impossible challenge and directed the film adaptation for Netflix with none other thanCarla Gugino. I’m dying to see this movie, and as if I needed to be more excited, King himself has officially chimed in with his support for the film after seeing a rough cut, calling it “horrifying” and “hypnotic”. Yep, can’t wait.
Based on Stephen King’s 1992 novel of the same name.
Here’s the officialGerald’s Gamesynopsis:
Gerald’s Game follows Gerald and Jessie Burlingame, who have gone to their summer home on a warm weekday in October for a romantic interlude. After being handcuffed to her bedposts, Jessie tires of her husband’s games, until things take an unexpectedly tragic turn. Still handcuffed, she is trapped and alone. Painful memories from her childhood bedevil her. Her only company is a hungry stray dog and the voices that populate her mind. As night comes, she is unsure whether it is her imagination or if she has another companion: someone watching her from the corner of her dark bedroom.
Mondo Is Turning ‘The Thing’ into a Board Game
I mean, holy shit! What else is there to say?! Mondo is teaming with Project Raygun to createInfection of Outpost 31, a game that builds on the tension foJohn Carpenter’s horror classic in a race to discover who is infected with the extraterrestrial nightmare. It’s toy fair, so there’s a ton of great horror goods happening right now (look for a roundup in next week’s post), but this one takes the cake.
Here’s the official release:
We’re thrilled to announce a new partnership with Project Raygun, USAopoly’s brand new initiative focused on combining iconic properties with visionary art and design.
“The synergy between Mondo and Project Raygun was immediate, both driven by zeal and a deep-rooted appreciation of timeless and relevant pop culture,” explains VP of Project Raygun, Mike Gonzales.
“When Project Raygun started talking about tapping into fan’s passion and nostalgia for iconic properties and bringing them to life, it was clear that Mondo was the perfect fit to help us deliver the ultimate experience to the gaming and collector community,” continued John Davis, USAopoly and Project Raygun’s President and CEO.
Our first collaboration will center around John Carpenter’s 1982 sci-fi horror thriller,The Thing. In the new signature board game, titledINFECTION AT OUTPOST 31, the tension and mystery ofThe Thingis recreated as players race to discover who among them are infected in the hidden identity game play engine. We recruited one of our favorite artists and package designers, Justin Erickson of Phantom City Creative, to handle art duties.
“When we set out to create the first licensed Mondo board game the biggest question was; what film property would we go after? So many of the films we celebrate at Mondo would be an absolute blast in game form,” explained Jay Shaw, Mondo Brand Director. “As soon as John Carpenter’s suspense masterpiece,The Thingwas mentioned it very quickly became our top choice,” Shaw noted.
“The next step was to figure out how to actually make a game. We all love playing them, but none of us had designed one before. Game mechanics are an incredibly complicated art form and we didn’t want to enter this space unless we were going to get it right. Luckily our dear friends at Project Raygun were completely up to the challenge. They’ve built an incredibly challenging fast paced game of paranoia that transports players directly into the film,” Shaw continued.
USAopoly, Inc. and Project Raygun will be at Toy Fair in New York City, February 18-21. The division’s inaugural product line is scheduled for release starting Fall 2017.
Anne Hathaway’s Monster Movie ‘Colossal’ Gets a Flippant New Poster
Colossalis a wonderful film and I’m so excited it’s finally hitting theaters this April. It’s a fantastic piece on alcoholism and toxic masculinity starringAnne Hathawayas a Kalju surrogate, and it’s also just a damn fun monster movie.TimecrimeshelmerNacho Vigalondoputs his singular stamp on the giant monsters genre with a comedic flourish and social commentary that sets the film apart from your standard Kaiju fare (not that there’s anything wrong with standard Kaiju fare, it’s the best.
The film stars Hathaway as a happy drunk stuck in a consistent party who finally gets the message that her blitzed decisions have consequences through the not-so-subtle metaphor of a giant monster that’s stomping it’s way through Seoul, Korea. It’s a cheeky delight of a film and now it’s got an appropriately flippant poster. Check it out below.
‘The Belko Experiment’ Clip Stages a Murdery Debate
If you only know him from Guardians of the Galaxy, you might not guess thatJames Gunnhas kind of a fucked up streak. The Marvel director previously helmed the gross-out parasite picSlitherand quite possibly the darkest superhero movie of all time,Super, Now, he’s put those twisted instincts to work again by penning the script for Greg McLean’s (Wolf Creek) nihilistic, super murdery movie,The Belko Experiment. Ever just wanted to downright kill your coworkers? Such is the gist of the film, which is essentiallyBattle Royalein the office space.
The Belko Experimentfeatures a pretty huge cast of familiar faces poised to murder the shit out of each other includingTony Goldwyn(Scandal),Adria Arjona(Emerald City),John Gallagher Jr.(10 Cloverfield Lane),John C. McGinley(Scrubs),Sean Gunn(Super),Michael Rooker(Guardians of the Galaxy),Owain Yeoman(The Mentalist),Melonie Diaz(Fruitvale Station),Josh Brener(Silicon Valley).
Here’s the official synopsis:
On what appears to be a normal day at Belko Industries, Belko employees are horrified when they find out that they’ve become guinea pigs in a company-wide experiment which will lead them to either kill their fellow employees or be murdered themselves. The experiment is masterminded by a mysterious voice which is controlling the loud speaker and instructing the employees to slaughter each other by any means necessary.
Fangoria Lives On
Before the age of the internet, Fangoria was king in the realm of genre entertainment coverage. Since 1979, Fangoria has kept film fans up to date on horror happenings through their bi-monthly publications offering the latest news, interviews, and behind-the-scenes look at what’s happening in genre. However, like so many great print publications, Fangoria has struggled to compete with the constant stream of information, speculation, and fanfare of the internet and recent years have seen the publication struggle to find a way to survive.
However, despite recent rumors of closure and shuttering, it seems Fangoria will live on. The outlet released a candid statement to their website, promising more to come for the horror news icon. For now, there’s a moratorium on the print publication, but website and social media will continue to deliver the horrific goods to the fans.
Here’s the full statement as posted on the Fangoria website:
First and foremost, FANGORIA would like to sincerely thank all of our friends and fans for their patience during these trying times.
It’s no secret that the world of print publications is feeling the pressure with the transition of media to a mostly digital phase. As many readers of FANGORIA have noticed, our print issues have been at an unfortunate halt as we attempt to catch up from previous issues. Not to mention, over recent years we have gone through quite a change of staff in the most prominent role of Editor-in-Chief.
Here’s an Official statement directly from our President/Owner, Tom DeFeo:
Despite the current standstill of our print issues, our website and social media will function as normal and FANGORIA will continue to support independent artists and filmmakers as we have done for the past 30+ years of our history. We hope that you continue to support the first company in the business that jump started your eternal love for horror.
Collider Nightmares: ‘Halloween’ Finds a New Director, Plus We Interview Gore Verbinski
Trailer Trash: All the Weekly Horror Trailers, Rounded Up for Your Convenience
COLOSSALhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/LRqCFSrHPWA
Gloria (Anne Hathaway) is an out-of-work girl who, after getting kicked out of her apartment by her boyfriend, is forced to leave her life in New York and move back to her hometown. When news reports surface that a giant creature is destroying Seoul, South Korea, Gloria gradually comes to the realization that she is somehow connected to his far-off phenomenon. As events begin to spin out of control, Gloria must determine why her seemingly insignificant existence has such acolossaleffect on the fate of the world.
Encountering a blood-soaked man on a dark deserted road, a police officer rushes the victim to the local hospital. Soon the staff and patients are trapped by a terrifying, otherworldly threat and forced on a hellish voyage into the depths of the building to escape the nightmare. Shocking, haunting and boasting mind-blowing practical special effects, The Void is a new must-see horror event, starring Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim vs the World), Kathleen Munroe (Alphas), Aaron Poole (Forsaken) and Kenneth Welsh (The Aviator) and Daniel Fathers. Written and directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski and from the Executive Producer of The Witch.
DON’T KILL IT
An ancient evil is unleashed in a small Mississippi town leaving a trail of death and destruction as it passes from host to host. The only hope of survival lies with a grizzled demon hunter (Dolph Lundgren) who has faced this terror before. Together with a reluctant FBI agent (Kristina Klebe) he has to figure out how to destroy a demon with the ability to possess its killer.
DEVIL IN THE DARK
There is no escape from this…
When estranged brothers Adam and Clint attempt to reconnect over a week-long hunting trip in remote British Columbia, they find the tables turned by a mysterious presence lurking in the forest. Convinced that they are now besieged by a supernatural presence, the siblings begrudgingly agree on only one thing: They will have to put aside their differences and work together if they plan on making it out of these dark woods alive.
MEAN DREAMS
MEAN DREAMS follows courageous local farm boy Jonas (Josh Wiggins) and the new girl next door, Casey (Sophie Nélisse), as they embark on a journey that will change their lives forever. As young love blossoms between the two fifteen year olds, Jonas also discovers that Casey’s abusive home life has reached a new level of danger, and Jonas takes the lead in their escape by stealing a bag full of drug money from Casey’s corrupt father – local cop Wayne Caraway (Bill Paxton). With the stolen cash as their only means to a better life, Casey flees with Jonas and together, under relentless pursuit from her father, they learn the hard truth of what it will take to survive. In the end, Casey and Jonas are forced to make a life-altering choice from which there will be no turning back. A potent coming of age thriller, MEAN DREAMS brings together the desperation of life on the run and the beauty and wonder of first love.
