The Weekly Wrap-Up: December 6-12, 2008

Debi Moore |

Dec 13, 2008

The holiday season is in full swing here at Dread Central, and already we’ve all got too much to do in too little time, so this edition of the Wrap-Up is just gonna hit the highlights of the week of December 6-12, 2008, with a minimum of editorializing. I’ll save it for the end of the year instead.

Something we haven’t had a shortage of over the past several days is a look at posters for upcoming releases. Here are my top 3:

Silver Cord – Let us know below exactly how far you’d go for love.
Paris by Night of the Living Dead – The setting alone elevates this above your average zombie fare.
Perkins’ 14 – It could go either way, but it definitely has potential; I’m optimistic it’ll be one of the bright spots of Horrorfest III.

Trailers were also abundant, but only two in particular stood out:

Dead Snow – This is by far one of the best looking, most intriguing films we’ve heard about in months.
Terminator: Salvation – I readily admit I’m a sucker for the Terminator flicks, so no matter what anyone says about McG or anything else, I’m there opening day with bells on.

As much as I may adore my cyborgs, they don’t hold a candle to ultimate love god Jose Mojica Marins, aka Coffin Joe. So it was pretty cool to read of his plans for the English-only Santo Amaro: The Bitter Garden. *TWIB does a happy dance and crosses her fingers that One Eyed Films can pull this off*

Another charismatic fellow it’s a blast to spend some time with is Max Ryan, the Darkman himself from Dark Moon Rising. Be sure to check out our video interview with Max here, and in case you missed them, click here for the rest of our chats with the DMR cast and crew. Plus, there’s one more to come, so stay tuned; we saved the best for last!

Platinum Dunes dominated the news with multiple projects in various stages of completion. Of course the re-booted Friday the 13th is pumping up the promo (see a batch of new stills here), and now Jason’s nemesis Freddy Krueger appears to be poised for a re-do as well. Add PD’s original fare like The Horseman and The Unborn into the mix, and it looks like, whether we agree with their agenda or not, they are fast turning into one of the genre’s powerhouse production companies.

Along with the above four films, the Dunes is also branching out into the freaky realm of Satanic cults. The still untitled project is being written by TCM remake scribe Scott Kosar and has no director attached; but hell, I’ll sacrifice a goat to Old Scratch myself if it’ll mean the final product lives up to Brad Fuller’s promise of it being both scary and unsettling. Horror needs some winners in 2009, damnit!

Which brings us to the Woman’s Story of the Week: Derrickson Talks Paradise Lost Plans. No, I’m not some overly enthusiastic devil worshiper, but I am a fan of thought-provoking material, and from my experience pretty much any time you bring up Lucifer, people start thinking — and saying — all kinds of things. It’s a good way to take someone’s temperature if you get my drift. And to have an adaptation of Milton’s masterpiece directed by Scott Derrickson, who holds a degree in theological studies (along with humanities and communications), ups the ante considerably. Genre TV shows like “Buffy”, “Angel”, and “Supernatural” have done a great job of portraying demons and angels and the battles they wage in the name of Good vs. Evil, but their counterparts on the big screen haven’t been as successful. The original Prophecy is probably the last really good depiction of this eternal struggle. So I’m rooting for both Scotts (Derrickson and Kosar) to reignite the religious horror sub-genre and bring an increased level of legitimacy to it. With source material like Paradise Lost, one of them is halfway there already!

Scott Derrickson Set to Direct Paradise Lost Adaptation

Until next time …

– The Woman In Black

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