Horror Squad, Horror Movies, News, Trailers, and More

Perhaps today's crop is thin because the assumption was that all our horror dollars were tied up with watching Halloween 2 and/or The Final Destination last weekend? Whatever. Disc addicts still need their fix.

Methodic
Stop me if you're heard this one before: a young boy kills his parents, is stopped by his older sister, and is locked up in an insane asylum for 20 years. Hmm, watch John Carpenter much? Chris R. Notarile's debut film "does at first come off as a script that takes it's story and ideas from Halloween," says The Horror Review. Yet "Notarile took the mold of a modern horror icon and turned that icon into his own, while giving the audience a character that they think they already know." Here's what may cinch the deal: "One must give credit to Mack the dog, who was one hell of a pet actor hitting all his marks on cue." Any indie horror flick that has good canine acting deserves a rental, in my opinion.

Earth Day
The DVD cover for this horror/comedy is very promising -- topless girl with her back to the camera, concealing a big knife -- but I couldn't find much information on this one, and I'm wary of films with official sites on MySpace, not to mention a writer/director who calls himself "Mister Ooh-La-La." From the official synopsis: "A group of ex eco-crusaders ... find themselves being systematically slaughtered as the one year anniversary of the tragic Earth Day death of their leader, Pixie, approaches." It's about time someone started killing people who care about the Earth!

Children of the Corn [Blu-ray]
The enduring classic, finally available in high definition. Variety sniffed: "Children of the Corn does have a few good scare scenes but special effects are surprisingly disappointing." Millions of fans (well, thousands) have disagreed over the years. The 25th anniversary edition features new, separate interviews with co-star Linda Hamilton and writer Stephen King, plus talks with the production designer and composer. Well-timed for harvest season.

Abduction
From the people who brought you Dreams of the Dead (see below): In rural New Jersey, they don't harvest corn, they harvest organs -- human ones. They also sell babies to "loving couples" and kidnap young women to sell as sex slaves. When the criminal gang unknowingly snatches a "popular Brazilian hip hop star," her bodyguard comes searching for his meal ticket.

Sick Girl
Teenage Izzy, orphaned and caring for her little brother, relieves her anxieties by torturing and killing hapless victims in the family barn. So maybe the school bullies should have picked on someone other than her little brother. Dread Central called it a "twisted slice of indie goodness," while Quiet Earth predicted: "This film [will] polarize its audience." The special edition from Synapse Films includes a "making of" mini-feature, bloopers and outtakes, and an interview with actor Stephen Geoffreys.

For your consideration, the following horror titles are out on DVD today:

Last House on the Left
Surprise! Wes Craven's original 1972 shocker doesn't hold up. The most notorious scenes -- a rape in the woods and an attack in a house -- are more disgusting than horrifying nowadays, perhaps a reflection of society's increasing depravity. (Though I don't think anyone would argue that the hick sheriff and his idiot sidekick are anything more than major, embarrassing missteps, complete with jangly banjo accompaniment.) That makes the idea of a remake a bit more appealing, and director Dennis Iliadis fills the bill quite nicely.

The tone is consistently downbeat, with Garret Dillahunt as a restrained, though still nasty-hearted, leader of a small wild bunch of criminals and deviants. The rape is more horrific, perhaps because Sara Paxton is a stronger-willed victim, which makes the crime more unsettling. Tony Goldwyn and Monica Potter are well-cast as the victim's loving, determined parents.

While there are definite missteps -- I'm thinking of the outcome of the rape scene and the scenes toward the end, which veer away from the ultra-serious demeanor of the film, this is the rare remake that, dare I say it, actually improves upon the original. Both the DVD and Blu-ray releases include the theatrical and unrated versions -- the latter adds four minutes of footage. Also included are deleted scenes, and a "making of" feature.

She may look like an average, ordinary young woman, but she has a big heart that yearns to express her creativity. And Emily Hagins chose to express herself by making a zombie movie, with the support of her family and friends, especially her mother. Except for the times when she had to forge onward alone. Until next Thursday, August 20, you can watch her story, Zombie Girl, for free, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms.

Emily Hagins, a resident of Austin, Texas, isn't likely to talk about artistic inspiration or expressing her "inner filmmaker"; she just loves zombie movies -- among other genres held in low esteem by the mainstream -- and wanted to make her own. Zombie Girl documents the arduous challenges facing 12-year-old Emily as she endeavored to write, produce, and direct a film, all while remaining true to her artistic vision and dealing with the usual adolescent challenges (friends, school work, asserting independence from your mother).

Emily's story is definitely captivating all on its own -- Will all the actors and extras show up on time? Will the make-up look right on camera? Will the shot be in focus? Will Emily and her mother kill each other -- but credit is very much due to Justin Johnson, Erick Mauck, and Aaron Marshall, who created a documentary with a great flow, somehow managing to be in the right place at the right time, and assembling the footage into a wonderfully cohesive whole that is funny and touching. I loved the movie, and I urge you to take advantage of the opportunity to watch the movie -- right here, right now! Or at SnagFilms, if you choose!

Watch Zombie Girl after the jump!

The Last Resort
A couple of weeks back, the first issue of a limited-run comic book series written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray titled The Last Resort came out, featuring topless babes, dissolving flesh, and a huge explosion. It was awesome; I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Sad to say, this movie has nothing to do with the comic book.

It does, however, feature America Olivo (AKA the dark-haired topless babe from the opening sequence in the Friday the 13th remake) and a storyline about five girlfriends enjoying fun and games on a "perfect paradise vacation" before they must take shelter in an abandoned resort. They are safe until "an ancient evil is unleashed in this haunted haven." Directed by Brandon Nutt.

See No Evil (Blu-ray)
I missed this one both theatrically and on DVD. Feel free to either ridicule or congratulate me. A psychopath is alone with his nightmares until a gang of petty criminals and the cop responsible for putting the psychopath away happen across his hiding place. Kane -- who I'm guessing by his name is a former professional wrestler -- stars as the psychopath, Jacob Goodnight ... and a good night to you, sir!

The Wild Man of the Navidad
I like the sound of this one: "Deep in the woods along the Navidad River, someone or something has left its lair to rip a trail of ferocious carnage through the local population. Is it man, monster or Lone Star myth? And in a rural community commanded by the Bible, corrupted by moonshine and ruled by rifles, can anything stop the vengeance of a beast unleashed?"

Cinematical has just received the dark new poster for Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant, an adaptation of a young adult book series by Darren Shan. The film version stars John C. Reilly as a vampire -- which is enough to sell me on the movie right there!

But, for those who must know more, the official synopsis says in part that the movie is "a fantasy-adventure about a teenager who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires. Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares." Chris Massoglia plays a 16-year-old boy who becomes the assistant of a vampire named Larten Crepsley (Reilly). Among the assistant's new friends are Salma Hayek as a bearded lady (?!) and Ken Watanabe as a "gigantic barker."

The film takes its title from the second installment in the 12-book series, The Saga of Darren Shan, but the script combines elements from the first three books. Directed by Paul Weitz (In Good Company, American Dreamz), look for Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant in theaters on October 23, just in time for Halloween.

Have a look at the full-sized poster in the gallery below. The complete synopsis is available after the jump. And keep an eye out for the trailer, which will debut on Moviefone tomorrow.

Let's see what's out on disc today ... hmm ... Obsessed (the horror of Beyonce acting), Big Trouble in Little China (great, great movie, supernatural stuff, but not really horror), Race to Witch Mountain (they're aliens, not witches, right?), Wolfhound ("a serious Slavic swords and sorcery epic that's heavy on the slashing blades and light on the fantasy," as I wrote at Twitch when it played at Fantastic Fest a couple of years ago) ... ah, here we go ...

The Machine Girl
Essential viewing for any splatter fanatic, especially one with a keen appreciation for the Japanese art of total freakin' excess. The Machine Girl spits out more body parts and bodily fluids than are actually contained in most any country on Earth, to the point where you'll be laughing your a** off, just because it's all so ridiculous. The Machine Girl starts where most other "extreme" movies end. Did I mention that the titular character (Minase Yashiro) loses her arm, only to have it replaced with a high-powered machine gun? Did I mention the bra than drills death? All bow down to director Noboru Iguchi for catering so well to American fantasies of very violent Japanese schoolgirls.

Nature's Grave
American remake of the very good 1978 Australian flick. Jim Cavaziel and Claudia Karvan star as a bickering married couple who head out to the wilderness to a weekend vacation, only to find that animals don't take no guff when you're disrespectful to the environment. Horror Squad's Peter S. Hall got an early look and rather liked it: "It's a likeable adult take on the nature-gone-amuck subgenre."

Pop Skull
"In its unsettling blend of visual and aural disturbances and eruptions -- including some radical strobe effects -- Pop Skull powerfully points toward a new subgenre: acid horror," wrote Robert Koehler in Variety. "Director-lenser-editor and co-writer Adam Wingard constructs a subjective universe that, true to the title, places viewers almost entirely inside the frazzled mind of a 20-ish Alabama guy haunted by murders, forlorn over a breakup and popping way too many pills." Sounds good to me!

The DVD includes an audio commentary with the director and star Lane Hughes, plus five short films and a music video by Wingard, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and deleted/alternate scenes.

Acolytes
Hailing from Australia, Jon Hewitt's film follows two young victimized men who are determined to kill their nemesis ... and then they cross paths with a serial killer who may be able to help them out. "Seems simple, yes? Think you know where it's going, yes? You don't," wrote our friend Todd Brown at Twitch. "Acolytes is very much one of those films that wraps its strengths and weakness up into one interconnected package ... Once [certain bad] decisions start piling up the film begins to twist and turn but it takes a little patience to get to that point." Having those reservations in mind, this could be a decent rental pick in a slow week for new horror releases.

A Vietnam vet, "horrible fish-men mutations," and more ... after the jump!

In news that may encourage every devoted horror fan to sell some DVDs and raise the money to make their own flick, a British distributor has acquired rights to a zombie movie that cost $74. That's right: seventy-four freakin' dollars. Kaleidoscope Entertainment picked up UK rights to Colin, according to Screen Daily, and plans a limited theatrical release in London, among other cities, just in time to scare up some business for Halloween. So only seven or eight people would need to buy tickets to turn a profit, right?

Not quite, of course, but it's a staggeringly low budget for a movie that people other than your immediate family and close friends would want to see. Price wrote, directed, and produced the film, using a camcorder. Colin screened earlier this year at the Cannes Market and several reviews have appeared online. Dread Central felt there's "a lot to like" about the film, though their reviewer complained about the annoying "shaky cam." Quiet Earth described it as "a smart twist on the zombie genre that delivers a compelling story, a great soundtrack, and some amazingly effective gore effects despite a somewhat loose and unfocused plot."

Colin is told from the perspective of the a titular character, a man who dies in the opening sequence and returns -- as a zombie!!! The film screens at London's Frightfest next month. Check out the official site for more information.

Watch the shockingly good trailer for Colin after the jump!

We're still reeling from the impact of the first footage from Saw VI, and now comes confirmation that Saw VII will definitely be darkening theater screens in October 2010. Since Saw VI promises to provide "the final piece of the puzzle," I suppose Saw VII will be creating a new puzzle? Or will Jigsaw next try Monopoly?

David Hackl will return to the director's chair, according to Variety. You'll remember him as the production designer for Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV; he made his directorial debut with Saw V. Also returning are the industrious writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, who will be racking their brains to come up with more fiendish devices, puzzles, and one-liners for Jigsaw to rasp. They're on a roll now, after finishing the second Saw trilogy of IV, V, and VI. I hope they save something for the inevitable Saw VIII and Saw IX.

In a separate item, Variety also confirms that The Strangers 2 is on its way, which seemed like kind of a no-brainer after the first one did so well, not only with the public but with many critics (myself excepted). Bryan Bertino, who wrote and directed The Strangers last year, has also penned the script for the sequel, but a new director has been hired. Laurent Briet, described as "a commercial and music video director who also worked on visual effects for The Ring" remake. The story is being kept "under wraps." Will it perhaps feature young masked intruders knocking on someone's apartment door in the big city? Production starts this fall.