The Weekly Wrap-Up: May 24-30, 2009

Debi Moore |

May 30, 2009

Memorial Day officially kicked off the summer movie season, but it’s still several more months until 2009’s most high-profile star-powered horror offerings like Zombieland, The Road, The Box, andThe Wolfman hit theatres in the late fall.

So to help pass the time and keep your minds off the never-ending surplus of punch-to-the-gut remake/prequel/sequel stories, here’s a quick rundown of five likely prospects to make it worth your while to keep faith in the genre even after it continues to kick you to the curb over and over again.

Aussie horror/comedy I Know How Many Runs You Scored Last Summer seems promising. Click here for the trailer of this tale of a cricket team who are dismissed by a mustachioed serial killer with a razor sharp cricket glove and an arsenal of sharpened stumps.

It isn’t often we hear about any genre films coming out of The Netherlands, much less four at one time! But House of Netherhorror has a slate of four original Dutch horror movies, to be shot in 2010. We first reported on Children of the Moor, but Bijlmer Voodoo sounds pretty intriguing, too:

While investigating the disappearance of one of her clients, Anna, a lawyer specializing in illegal immigration cases, becomes entangled in a web of Nigerian people-smuggling in the Amsterdam ‘Bijlmer’ district. It turns out that this criminal network not only uses threats of violence to enslave its victims, but also a potent form of African voodoo. As Anna descends into an urban-magical underworld, her Western rationality is challenged – and her life endangered.

Be sure to visit Netherhorror’s site for a rundown of their other two projects, New Blood and Green Teeth.

One guy who hasn’t let me down (too much) is David Twohy, so I’ve been following the progress of his upcoming The Perfect Getaway closely. We finally got a trailer for the film this past Wednesday, and while yeah, it looks a little slick, as long as it follows in the footsteps of the director’s stellar and suspenseful Below, we should be okay.

Sneaking in under the radar on June 12 in limited release is Moon, which, if there is any justice left in this world, will generate a big enough positive response to ensure Sony expands its number of screens to make it available to as many people as possible. It shouldn’t have any problem reaching an international audience since its numerous distribution deals have it covering just about the entire globe. Our review will be up shortly.

I never said every item on this list had to be a film. Closing things out is the new vampire novel The Strain, co-written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. If you’ve been on the fence about starting the trilogy, check out Elaine’s review and also the promotional video trailer. Nothing says fun in the sun (or misery in the shade if that’s your preference) like a good, thick book to sink your teeth into over your summer vacation.

But screw those hot-ass days of a 100-degree heat index and 90% humidity anyway. What we care about most is Halloween, right?!? Which is why the Woman’s Story of the Week for May 24-30, 2009, is Dear Dracula Gets the CGI Feature Treatment. Forget about Twilight and its spin-offs. This is where the next generation of horror fans will spring from — kids who were raised on stories like Dear Dracula, which is about a young scary movie fan named Sam who writes to Dracula, asking the vampire king if he can become a real vampire for Halloween.

The fact that they’ve switched from stop-motion to CGI animation isn’t the best news of course, but Dear Dracula sounds more character-driven than anything else — and we know how time-consuming and expensive stop-motion has become — so if they get the voices and the tone right, everything else could fall into place.

Joshua Williamson and Vincente Navarrete' Dear Dracula

Until next time …

– The Woman In Black

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