Shawnee Smith

Toby Wilkins is not happy simply being a director. He’s also a storyteller with a vision. His two latest films, Splinter (review here) and The Grudge 3 (review here), both prove that he’s got a long career ahead of him filedl with engrossing stories he wants to share with audiences.

Reviewed by Heather Wixson Starring Matthew Knight, Shawnee Smith, Gil McKinney, Johanna E. Braddy, Jadie Hobson Directed by Toby Wilkins Distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Details are sketchy, but thanks to the Freefall Films website, we learned today that both the Terror Train remake and a new project called Slaughter (which has nothing to do with the film by the same name that played as part of After Dark's Horrorfest III) are gearing up for production.

Being dead hasn't stopped Jigsaw from coming back for sequels, has it? As a means to hopefully make amends for the abysmal Saw V (go ahead ... sing the song ... you know you want to), producer Mark Burg has confirmed that Shawnee Smith will be returning to her role as Amanda in the next sequel.

Sony has finally released the artwork for The Grudge 3, the direct-to-DVD sequel helmed by Splinter director Toby Wilkins. The only extras on the DVD will be two making-of featurettes and deleted scenes when the disc streets on March 24th.

You know, rarely do I get excited about sequels. I loved the Ju-on movies, but for whatever reason, even with creator Takashi Shimizu at the helm of the American remakes, they still felt kind of stale. With the upcoming release of Ghost House Pictures' The Grudge 3 from Sony, some interesting surprises have been popping up. The latest one? Gone is the PG-13 rating, and in its place the MPAA has granted this third U.S. entry an R rating, the first in the franchise's history.

I am not totally certain what reality shows have to do with channels that were once dedicated to music, but

We received the final poster art for David Hackl's Saw V, and it boasts that we'll "never believe how it ends." But ... isn't there already a sixth Saw film in the works? Do they mean how this trap ends or how this chapter ends? The fourth sequel in the Saw franchise follows the path of destruction the new Jigsaw creates as he attempts to keep his identity a secret. Torture, flashbacks, and hopefully more pig masks await us in theatres on October 24th.

Shawnee Smith, oh how I remember falling in love with her when I first saw The Blob. Did I mention that we have a Splattrax for that? Remember? That great idea we had that went over so well?

At some point over the last couple of days, the first teaser for Saw V finally showed up online, not in some crappy taped-at-Comic-Con YouTube format, but rather right here on Dread Central!

Nomad managed to get some snaps of non-toy related things, as well, when he came across a booth for the upcoming Fearnet exclusive 30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust, a new short starring Shawnee Smith (interview). Check out your first look at the short below!

Saw V ... who knew we'd actually see so many sequels to a small and twisted horror film that surfaced back in 2004? In the sequels that followed, we've seen a real split between horror fans who like and dislike the franchise. Will the fourth sequel bring them together in happy harmony?

Before 30 Days of Night came out, Return to House on Haunted Hill helmer Victor Garcia directed a prequel series to the film called 30 Days of Night: Blood Trails that you could only find on the Comcast On Demand channel Fearnet.

Remember that screenplay that won the Slamdance competition to get made into a film by Maverick Red, Slaughter? For a while it was a big deal, with Shawnee Smith signed to star and Victor (Return to House on Haunted Hill) Garcia on board as director. Then ... nothing.

Can you believe both Shawnee Smith (pictured) and Erica Leerhsen are being called scream queens now? I mean, sure, it’s by a trade publication, but it’s still kinda weird to think of Smith on the same level as, say, your everyday Brinke Stevens.