2012 was a mediocre year for the horror film industry, nothing really blew anyone away. However, we have a pretty exciting year ahead of us, and it kicks off with another “Texas Chainsaw” film. I’ll come back to that in just a minute, for now lets get into what’s looking good for the year in horror so far.
First up, “Evil Dead”, in the much anticipated remake of the 1981 cult-hit horror film, five twenty-something friends become holed up in a remote cabin. When they discover a Book of the Dead, they unwittingly summon up dormant demons living in the nearby woods, which possess the youngsters in succession until only one is left intact to fight for survival. “Evil Dead” is directed by Fede Alvarez and set for an April 12, 2013 release. I can’t wait for this one.
Another film I can’t wait for is the third film in the “Hatchet” series. “Hatchet III” centers around a search and recovery team heads into the haunted swamp to pick up the pieces and Marybeth learns the secret to ending the voodoo curse that has left Victor Crowley haunting and terrorizing Honey Island Swamp for decades. Danielle Harris and Kane Hodder are back again in the third and what appears to be final installment of the “Hatchet” series.
“Texas Chainsaw 3D” is building up a lot of anticipation for it’s January 4, 2013 release. “Texas Chainsaw 3D” picks up after the first massacre in 1974, the townspeople suspected that the Sawyer family were responsible. A vigilante mob of enraged locals surrounded the Sawyer house, burning it to the ground and killing every last member of the family. Decades later a young woman named Heather learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from her grandmother. she decides to bring her friends along on the road trip to invesitgate her inheritance. On arrival she uncovers she has inherited a mansion but is yet to uncover the terrors that lurk in the basement below it. At this point, anything is better than another “TCM” remake.
Rob Zombie’s “The Lords of Salem” is also slated for an April 26, 2013 release, and followers of the film and of the director have already marked their calendars for this one. Sheri Moon Zombie plays Heidi, a blond rock chick, who DJs at a local radio station, and together with the two Hermans (Whitey and Munster) forms part of the "Big H Radio Team." A mysterious wooden box containing a vinyl record arrives for Heidi, a gift of the Lords. She assumes it's a rock band on a mission to spread their word. As Heidi and Whitey play the Lords' record, it starts to play backwards, and Heidi experiences a flashback to a past trauma. Later, Whitey plays the Lords' record, dubbing them the Lords of Salem, and to his surprise, the record plays normally and is a massive hit with his listeners. The arrival of another wooden box from the Lords presents the Big H team with free tickets, posters and records to host a gig in Salem. Soon, Heidi and her cohorts are far from the rock spectacle they're expecting. The original Lords of Salem are returning and they're out for blood.
“The ABC’s of Death” is an ambitious anthology film featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children's educational ABC books, the motion picture is comprised of 26 individual chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational; THE ABC's OF DEATH is the definitive snapshot of the diversity of modern horror. Drafthouse Films, Magnet Pictures and Timpson Films are proud to present this alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by what Fangoria calls "a stunning roll call of some of the most exciting names in horror across the world." “The ABC’s of Death” is slated for a March 8, 2013 release.
“Cabin Fever: Patient Zero” is the third “Cabin Fever” film in which a flesh-eating virus spreads throughout a cruise ship in the Caribbean after it crashes into an abandoned scientific research boat. “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero” has yet to be set for a release date.
“Maniac”, Just when the streets seemed safe, a serial killer with a fetish for scalps is back and on the hunt. Frank is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store, but his life changes when young artist Anna appears asking for his help with her new exhibition. As their friendship develops and Frank's obsession escalates, it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion to stalk and kill. Elijah Wood will star as the serial killer in this IFC Midnight film.
“The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence)” Dieter Laser and Laurence R. Harvey, who played the mad scientist of the first film and the twisted obsessive of the second respectively, have both agreed to reprise their roles for the third film in the series, which promises to give censors the world over more pause for thought. No plot details have been released as of yet, but Tom Six promises that the third film in the shocking series will be “100% politically incorrect.”
“Girls Against Boys” is a film for the ladies, When Shae (Danielle Panabaker), a naïve college student, is tormented by several men in a matter of days, she reaches her breaking point, and is drawn into her friend Lu’s (Nicole LaLiberte) twisted plan for revenge. Together, the two embark on a gruesome killing spree, terrorizing and brutally murdering not just their attackers, but any man who gets in their way. However, after a wild weekend of retaliation, the friendship between the girls shifts into a dangerous obsession, and their perverse game becomes a desperate struggle for Shae to maintain control against Lu’s deadly and seductive influence. “Girls Against Boys” is set for a February 1, 2013 debut.
“The Green Inferno” another Eli Roth directed film centers around student activists from New York City travel to the remote jungles of Peru in order to stage a protest but instead encounter a tribe of cannibals. No release date has been set yet, but this is going to be one to get out and see.
“Frankenstein’s Army” is set toward the end of World War II, Russian soldiers pushing into eastern Germany stumble across a secret Nazi lab, one that has unearthed and begun experimenting with the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The scientists have used the legendary Frankenstein's work to assemble an army of super-soldiers stitched together from the body parts of their fallen comrades -- a desperate Hitler's last ghastly ploy to escape defeat. The Dark Sky Films production has not set a concrete date yet, but we’ll see it yet this year.
“Axeman at Cutter’s Creek” is an '80s-style slasher, to be directed by Joston Theney, centers around nine vacationing twenty-somethings who are hunted down by an axe-wielding local legend.
“Carrie”, another remake of the Stephen King classic, tells the story of Carrie White, a lonely and awkward teen who is constantly bullied at school by her peers, and beaten at home at the hands of her religious mother. But Carrie has a secret: She's been blessed with the terrifying power of telekinesis; and when her peers decide to pull a prank on her at prom, they'll soon learn a deadly lesson: If you play with fire, you get burned. “Carrie” is set to debut on March 15, 2013.
“The Conjuring”, before there was Amityville, there was Harrisville. Based on a true story, The Conjuring tells the horrifying tale of how world renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren were called upon to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives. From New Line Cinema comes a feature film drawn from the case files of married demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. The Perrons claimed they "lived among the dead" in the 1970s as spirits -- both friendly and sinister -- inhabited their Rhode Island farmhouse. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are playing the investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Lilli Taylor and Ron Livingston will portray the Perrons. July 19, 2013 is the debut of this ghostly thriller.
“Ouija”, based on the board game, this is conceived as a big budget family adventure film in the tone of "The Mummy," set in multiple locations around the world. Action-adventure horror story in which a group of twenty-something’s violate all the mythic "don'ts" of the Ouija board and unleash a Pandora's Box type of evil spirit bent on revenge. No release date has been set yet.
And lastly, “Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters”, after getting a taste for blood as children, Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton) have become the ultimate vigilantes, hell bent on retribution. Now, unbeknownst to them, Hansel and Gretel have become the hunted, and must face an evil far greater than witches... their past. The two hit theaters January 25, 2013.
There, that should be enough to get you started, but there are several other very good films coming up this year. Happy New Year everyone! Now start planning out your year in horror.
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