alien

3D is all the rage these days, and now that Avatar has made like eleventy bajillion dollars (which is totally a real number), it seems as though it's probably here to stay. This means we can expect all kinds of cool movies to make the jump from boring old 2D over to much more gimmicky 3D.

One such title that appears to be making the move to the third dimension is Ridley Scott's highly anticipated prequel to Alien. Website Shadowlocked.com recently sat down with Roger Christian (art director on Scott's original film), who spilled the beans on plans for the new title.

"Ridley's doing the next Alien in 3D," Christian told the site. "Ridley told me some of his ideas when we were here in Toronto. He has a very clear understanding of where this should go. They kind of stopped dead one of the greatest horror franchises there's ever been, and it had legs to go on. So I'm hoping he'll revive another three. The world certainly wants it, and the fans want it - everybody. "

Now, keep in mind that this is still basically a rumor--the studio hasn't confirmed any of this, and Christian isn't officially involved with the Alien prequel at this point. However, if there's a franchise that could really benefit from using 3D technology, Alien is definitely on the short list. The thought of Xenomorphs popping out of the screen and facehuggers flying directly at me is cool beyond words.

What do you think? Does the idea of a new Alien film being in 3D fill you with excitement over the possibilities or does it make you worry that the gimmick will overshadow what's truly important--seeing nasty monsters eat people's faces? Let us know in the comment section below.

The next sound you hear will be me squealing with glee. But I think I speak for many of us when I express my excitement about Alien Quadrilogy, one of the greatest special DVD collections ever, getting a much deserved Blu-ray transfer. And if that wasn't enough, Dread Central put the icing on the cake by revealing that the set will have brand spanking new content and be available mid-to-late 2010.

Sigourney Weaver, who loves to be chatty with the press, revealed in an interview with the L.A. Times that she will be watching all of the Alien films in the coming weeks as part of the process of recording commentary for the Blu-ray release.

"I've never done that, watched all of them in a row," Weaver said. "I just recently made my [19-year-old] daughter watch them. She had never seen them before, believe it or not. I think she just prefers to think of me as good ol' mom, you know, not some person running around a spaceship with a flamethrower."

I haven't seen the 1987 Tibor Takács film, The Gate, in its entirety but people either seem to love it or pass it off as a goofy kids flick. Well, the gateway to hell is being reopened by director Alex Winter and in 3D format. Academy Award winning special effects guru, Randall William Cook, is designing the creatures for the remake and new creature design will be done by visionary artist H.R. Giger (Alien). Visiting the Giger Bar in Switzerland is on my list of things to do before I die. Just sayin'.

You probably remember Alex Winter in front of the camera in The Lost Boys and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, but he made his directing debut with Freaked in 1993 which was soon followed by Fever in 1999. Since then he has been keeping busy with several writing projects, as well as directing music videos, commercials and working on Ben 10: Race Against Time for the Cartoon Network.

After the jump you can check out the full synopsis of The Gate 3D which revolves around two friends who discover the gateway to a demonic world in their own backyard. There's also some more concept art to peek at.

Greetings and Happy Monday! Today I launch what will be a weekly discussion piece called "Horror or Not." The simplistic title belies the often daunting task of classifying certain films that straddle multiple genres. My compatriots in the field of horror film scholarship and I are known to wax both poetic and idiotic about some of our favorite films and whether they would be more appropriately labeled in a different category than horror. I have so far been very impressed with the readership of Horror Squad and their comments on various articles, so I am anxious to initiate discussion and/or debate on the subject. Our first film up for review is the incontrovertibly classic Alien.

We've been hearing a lot about a reboot / remake / prequel of the original A L I E N for quite some time now, but things have picked up in the last several weeks, and the latest news is actually pretty surprising: According to Variety, no less than Ridley Scott himself will be directing the prequel, and if I need to remind you that Mr. Scott directed the first A L I E N, then I think you may be at the wrong horror blog. The screenwriter for the flick will be Jon Spaihts, who's clearly one of those "mega-busy but untested" scribes. The guy has no less than five scripts in various stages of development, including Children of Mars and Shadow 19.

Right here is where you'd expect me to flip out like a geek and rant loudly because A L I E N is my all-time favorite film and how dare they make a prequel and yadda yadda ... but frankly I'm pretty thrilled that Ridley Scott is attached. Mainly because I think he's an excellent filmmaker, but also because his hectic schedule may prevent this prequel from arriving any time soon. More info as we get it!

We asked, and you delivered. After counting more than 100,000 votes, we can reveal the winners of our super-duper, stunningly creative Ultimate Fan Polls! (Cue drum roll.) May I have the envelopes, please?

Winners of The Ultimate Horror Movie Fan Poll:

1. What is the best horror movie franchise of all time? Nightmare on Elm Street.
2. Which horror movie classic deserves a reboot? Poltergeist (narrowly edging The Shining).
3. Who is the best all-time scream queen? Jamie Lee Curtis (with a decisive 51% of the vote).
4. Who is your favorite slasher of all time? Freddy Krueger.
5. Who would you like to see take a turn as a scream queen? Megan Fox (ahem).

Winners of The Ultimate Sci-Fi Fan Poll:

1. What is the best sci-fi movie franchise of all time? Star Wars (decisively).
2. What is the best sci-fi film of 2009 so far? Star Trek (with 69% of the vote; no robots for you).
3. What is your most anticipated upcoming sci-fi film? District 9 (beating out Avatar).
4. Who is the all-time best sci-fi action heroine? Ripley (Alien).
5. What is the greatest all-time sci-fi creature/alien? Alien (Alien). (Sorry, Chewbacca.)

Big thanks to everybody who voted. You can view all the nominees and the breakdown of votes at Horror Squad and Sci-Fi Squad. In addition, Reuters has a nice story on the poll results. I'm glad to see Jamie Lee Curtis recognized for her multiple roles, but a bit startled that the Star Wars franchise still holds sway. Any big surprises for you? Outrage? Joy?

(By Jessica Barnes -- Cinematical -- 6/1/09)

So, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Well, let's start with the bad news: Its official, the A L I E N reboot has gone beyond rumor and straight into reality. But the good news is that at least it won't be a remake. Just last week, Peter broke the story that Fox was looking to revive the franchise, but at the time, none of the principals involved (original creator Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, or rumored director, Carl Rinsch) had officially commented on the status of the project. Now, though, Collider brings us news that they got the chance to speak with Tony Scott during a press event for The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 and he confirmed that Rinsch has indeed been given the nod to direct a prequel to the 1979 sci-fi horror.

Once you get over the fact that a prequel is a particularly goofy idea, it probably wouldn't be that hard to come up with a plausible story. In the original film, the story of the derelict ship that the crew of the Nostromo encountered was never really explained. That element of the unknown was always an integral part of the original film's scare factor, but you have to admit, it wouldn't be all that difficult to fill in the blanks. Scott is looking to get the film into production by the end of the year, but there is still a small matter of a script and a cast before they can think about sticking to a tentative release date of summer, 2011.

More here!