Weekly Horror Round up - Saturday June 20th 2015

The return of ‘The Shape’ to a cult Cheesefest ala New Barbarians, Bradley Hadcroft delivers his weekly Horror round up from the world of horror…

– Halloween Returns

News broke this week that “The Shape” would be re-commencing his stalking duties for a tenth time.The Movie is penned by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton a duo with solid horror credentials.Not only have they had a hand in the Saw franchise but are also the guys responsible for scripting the hilariously anarchic Feast movies.Dunstan directed the super gruesome shenanigans of The Collector and has secured that role in this new stand alone entry in the slasher saga.

Moviehole carries this synopsis :

“Halloween Returns will pit a new group of Haddonfield youngsters against Myers. The now 18-year-old child of one of Myers’ victims plays a central role along with the child of a cop whose long been obsessed with Myers’ case, even putting it before his own daughter.Myers is now on death row and the two kids with their own personal vendettas against the killer sneak in to watch his execution. But when things go awry and Myers escapes, the pair, along with their friends, find themselves in the firing line.”

Also on Moviehole this week this quote from film mogul Bob Weinstein:

“Michael Myers has taken a long break from the big screen and we know fans are eager to see him return. We are excited to be back in business with Trancas and look forward to bringing one of the scariest installments of this classic franchise to audiences worldwide.”

The whole thing from functional title to standard slasher plot-line seems a tad simplistic.However there is proven talent already on-board and the original music has been acquired,so maybe this does what it says on the can approach could be just what this horror franchise needs.If Halloween want’s to extend it’s legacy into another generation then this latest effort from the man in the $2 William Shatner mask needs to be both self aware and genuinely scary.

Halloween Returns commences shooting next month and a quick turn around can be expected.

– Simon Rumley and Rob Zombie

Typical, you wait ages for one bearded horror director to break type in spectacular fashion and two turn up at the same time.Both Simon Rumley(above left)(Red White and Blue)and Rob Zombie(above right)(House of 1000 corpses)have revealed remarkable directional changes this week.

Simon Rumley took to his Facebook page to announce the under the radar project Crowhurst had finished filming as well as revealing some fascinating influences :

“Very excited to announce having just wrapped my new feature film, CROWHURST.A truly moving and unique story with a little craziness thrown in for good measure. With influences from Nic Roeg and Donald Cammell’s Performance, Robert Bresson’s Lancelot Du Lac and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia, this is one I’m ridiculously looking forward to editing.”

Whilst the film’s title could easily mark it as a horror feature it is in fact a sailing drama.The Hollywood Reporter carried this description of the film that is based on a true story :

“The tragic story of Donald Crowhurst, a British business man who in the late 1960s competed in an around-the-world race. The inexperienced sailor ran into trouble early on, then as his mental state began to deteriorate due to isolation, began faking reports of his positions.”

Hollywood reporter also revealed the reason for the secrecy as an as yet untitled project is also underway helmed by James Marsh(The Theory of Everything).Rumley is one of the most talented British directors working today and despite a budget handicap i fully expect his version to be far and away the most inventive and incisive.

Not to be outdone Rob Zombie also used his Facebook page to reveal his new project this week which is of course….a movie about Groucho Marx(Duck Soup).The personal memoirs of Steve Stoliar Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho’s House provides the source material.The author’s official site describes the book as:

“The bittersweet story of the last years in the life of Groucho Marx, told by a young Marx Brothers fan who was fortunate enough to work for Groucho as his personal secretary and archivist, right inside Marx’s Beverly Hills home. In addition to getting to know his hero, the author was able to spend quality time with Zeppo, Gummo, Mae West, George Burns, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, S.J. Perelman, Steve Allen, and scores of other luminaries of stage, screen, TV and literature. The downside of this dream-come-true was getting close to his idol as the curtain was coming down, and dealing with Erin Fleming – the mercurial woman in charge of Groucho’s personal and professional life.”

Zombie himself had this to say on Twitter:

“Here is the real story on my next movie.It is called Raised Eyebrows and it is about a College Students time working for Groucho Marxs inside his house.It is a very dark twisted tale.”

As the woefully underrated Lords of Salem proved Zombie is no hack and this film should raise a few eyebrow’s of it’s own. Imagine his acceptance speech at the Oscars.

– Sir John hurt

In his own inimitable style one of the finest British actors of all time John Hurt(The Elephant Man)announced he had been diagnosed with cancer this week.

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon and published by The Telegraph, he said:

“I have always been open about the way in which I conduct my life and in that spirit I would like to make a statement.I have recently been diagnosed with early stage pancreatic cancer. I am undergoing treatment and am more than optimistic about a satisfactory outcome, as indeed is the medical team.I am continuing to focus on my professional commitments and will shortly be recording Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell (one of life’s small ironies!) for BBC Radio 4.”

This superb actor has made a significant contribution to horror films during his phenomenal career from The Ghoul in 1978 to OnlyLovers Left Alive and Snowpiercer in 2013.However it was the chest bursting scene in Alien that gave horror cinema one of it’s greatest and most genuine shocks of all time.

We wish him all the best with his treatment and a speedy recovery.

– MEG

This movie about a 60ft shark made waves this week when Variety named Eli Roth(Cabin Fever) as being in talks for the directors role.With the massive success of Jurassic World the potential profits for this adaptation of N Y times bestseller Steve Alton’s popular novel could be as gigantic as the titular Carcharodon meglodon in question.MEG: A Novel of Deep Terror is part of a five strong volume of books and could prove Roth’s golden ticket to major league mainstream success.

Here is the official synopsis of the novel :

“On a top-secret dive into the Pacific Ocean’s deepest canyon, Jonas Taylor found himself face-to-face with the largest and most ferocious predator in the history of the animal kingdom. The sole survivor of the mission, Taylor is haunted by what he’s sure he saw but still can’t prove exists – Carcharodon megalodon, the massive mother of the great white shark. The average prehistoric Meg weighs in at twenty tons and could tear apart a Tyrannosaurus rex in seconds.

Written off as a crackpot suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Taylor refuses to forget the depths that nearly cost him his life. With a Ph.D. in paleontology under his belt, Taylor spends years theorizing, lecturing, and writing about the possibility that Meg still feeds at the deepest levels of the sea. But it takes an old friend in need to get him to return to the water, and a hotshot female submarine pilot to dare him back into a high-tech miniature sub.

Diving deeper than he ever has before, Taylor will face terror like he’s never imagined, and what he finds could turn the tides bloody red until the end of time. MEG is about to surface. When she does, nothing and no one is going to be safe, and Jonas must face his greatest fear once again.”

More news on this project including casting as and when it happens.Meanwhile to tide you over here is a trailer for the books 20th anniversary special edition :

– Lights Out

Signs that the modern mainstream horror film cash-cow is running out of milk this week as Shock Till You Drop reported that James Wan(Saw) is to produce a full length take on one shock micro short Lights Out.Can this source material really provide enough bones on which to hang the meat of a feature length horror film?

– Trailer watch :

– The Stanford Prison Experiment

Originally funded by the U.S. Navy this classic study of the consequences of being designated either a prisoner or guard is well known by anyone with even a passing interest in psychology.This cinematic exploration of the fascinating events that unfolded in the summer of 1971 is directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez(C.O.G.) and has massive topical implications in the light of findings at Abu Ghraib prison.

This passage from the experiments official site could serve perfectly as promotional material for the film:

“What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of prison life.”

The Film releases stateside on July 17th 2015 and had it’s international premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this week along with the brilliant tagline – Jailhouse mock.

[editor update – We’ve Just posted our Edinburgh Film Festival review for this film. Read it here]

– Turbo kid

Currently the clear front runner in the race for Midnight movie of the year the hugely popular Turbo Kid launched a new extended trailer this week to celebrate it’s August 28th U.S. release.The film has it’s U.K. premiere on the 21st June at the 2015 Edinburgh International Film Festival which carries this description :

“A post-apocalypse action-horror romp viewed as if made in the 1980s, Turbo Kid is a gleefully bloody fantasy film. It is 1997 after the apocalypse, and self-styled Turbo Kid (Munro Chambers) rides a BMX bike through slagheaps and dresses himself in a hero costume. When he meets and helps imperiled platinum blonde Apple (Laurence Leboeuf), they find themselves up against a vicious bike-riding gang. Imagine Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone meets BMX Bandits, but with more gore.”

– The Green Inferno

Here is a Father’s Day specific slant on Eli Roth’s gory cannibal movie.The film is in danger of becoming more lost than the tribe it depicts but it may emerge from the horror undergrowth around late September 2015…..or it may not.

Blu-ray release of the week :

Blue Underground brings the last word in early 80’s post nuclear holocaust hair into pin sharp HD focus with this fresh print of The New Barbarians.The film is directed by Enzo G. Castellar the man responsible for the original The Inglorious Bastards from a time when spelling was correct and the tag line If you’re a kraut, he’ll take you out! was deemed acceptable.

Trained architect and Playgirl model Fred Williamson(From Dusk till Dawn) stars with Anthropophagous the Beast himself George Eastman(Bastard, Go and Kill) as a pair of mercenaries taking on an evil band of nihilists.These self proclaimed Templar’s prove quite the handful as they swan about in their pimped up hybrid golf carts promoting the total annihilation of the seed of mankind whilst dressed as aerobics’s obsessed storm troopers.

The film features a performance(of sorts) from the extremely beautiful Anna Kanakis(2019: After the Fall of New York)who was married to the films composer Claudio Simone at the time.Simone is off the scale legendary in the world of horror film scores with Dawn of the Dead(1978) and Deep Red to his name as well as the upcoming Violent Shit: The Movie.He showcases some of his careers most ambitious work in The New Barbarians as he expertly manipulates a stunningly ingenious sound palette.Read a recent interview with the man himself over at The Establishing Shot.

Though the action sequences are more likely to have thrill seekers face palming than fist pumping the Robot Wars does The Banana Splits aesthetic is quite charming in it’s clunky execution.Overall the flick proves an energetic and entertaining ride with lots of essential cult ingredients to enjoy along the way such as unexplained forced buggery,laser gun fights,exploding torso’s and an unlikely prevalence of aluminium beer kegs.

The extra’s are typical of a Blue Underground release and opt for quality over quantity: