Darren Lynn Bousman

With the announcement of Carrie making a return to the Broadway circuit after a short-lived disastrous first go-round, I'm left holding my head and wondering, "Why?" Horror musicals are like your socially awkward cousin. You know, the one who talks too much and quite possibly bears an uncanny resemblance to Franklin from Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Is it fair to hold the horror musical to the same standards as the dastardly horror film remakes that seem to be happening in droves? I don't think I can help it. Few horror musicals have been born from an original idea which leaves me with the same funny feeling. I'm well aware that remakes have been happening since the dawn of time but this kind of remake is worse. When you add the word 'musical' to anything it evokes a horrible visceral reaction within many people. Adding it to the word horror just seems like a bastardized and shrieking kind of wrong.

Isn't the comical genius of Young Frankenstein and Evil Dead perfect as is? Young Frankenstein was a parody. So, is a mugging Dr. Frankenstein belting out a song called Transylvania Mania anything other than pointless and silly? The film Cannibal! The Musical, another intentional parody by beloved low-budget Troma Entertainment, has more class by comparison. Even Cronenberg's The Fly has been made into an opera, but they don't have me fooled. Adding the smooth vowel-ridden word to the title doesn't soften the blow. In fact, it's almost more cruel. However, Repo! The Genetic Opera would probably disagree with me.

By Monika Bartyzel

In May we got the creepiest Mother's Day news ever -- Darren Lynn Bousman was prepping a remake of Charles Kaufman's Mother's Day -- a film where a few boys rape and murder some girls to please their sadistic mother. It was just the sort of thing for the mom who already has enough flowers. But now the flick's got a more socially palatable plot, and our favorite evil caregiver. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Rebecca De Mornay has signed on to play Mom.

This incarnation zeroes in on a "wicked family" who decides to return to the house they grew up in and "terrorize the new owners and their guests." But it won't just be about the grown-up kids tapping into their murderous tendencies. De Mornay comes in as "Mother," who "will go to any length to protect her children." Bring on the De Mornay evil! If intent means anything for the final product, her involvement should be viciously sweet. Bousman says: "Every time you look at (Rebecca), she is on fire and to take her to this level, which is like her role in Hand That Rocks the Cradle times a thousand, is exciting. She is not some Freddy Krueger or Jason, so it was important for me to get a real actress."

De Mornay has had some horror fare since her classic stint as Mrs. Mott/Peyton Flanders, but nothing has rang as sweetly as Cradle. Would anyone have imagined that a Troma remake would possibly bring her back to that chill-worthy world? Production begins this month in Winnipeg with a cast that includes Jaime King, Shawn Ashmore, Briana Evigan, Alexa Vega, Matt O'Leary and Deborah Ann Woll. Are you ready for De Mornay's return to caretaker creeps?