Anyone who questions the health of the horror genre just needs to see how many stories we’ve put up over the past seven days. A full six and a half pages worth with no sign of a slowdown in sight. And this week is far from unusual as the news has been rolling in at a healthy clip for quite a while now.
With such volume, it’s no surprise a few items might fall through the cracks without generating much buzz. For the period of May 10-16, 2009, these are my suggestions for those which merit a second look:
With so much on our plates these days, it’s hard to find the time to sit down and relax with a good book. But I fully intend to do exactly that once Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan’s novel The Strain hits bookstore shelves. The first in a proposed trilogy, The Strain (read an excerpt here) sounds more like a post-apocalyptic zombie tale than a typical vampire yarn, and this Woman couldn’t be more excited to learn where the authors plan to take us!
With the success of My Bloody Valentine 3D poised to really take off once the DVD is released this coming Tuesday, we knew it wouldn’t be long before Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer joined forces again. Would it be a another remake? Indeed, that’s the case, but it’s not anything you’d expect. It’s William Castle’s classic tale from 1965, I Saw What You Did … And I Know Who You Are. For a look into their thought process of how to incorporate the original’s “prank call” scenario into today’s tech savvy world, check out Creepy’s recent interview with Lussier.
Two people who can virtually guarantee my interest in whatever project they’re involved in are Gerard Butler and Michael C. Hall. Throw in a kickass poster and an action-packed trailer, and I’m there with bells on. Gamer has all that going for it and more. Do I even need to mention it’s rated R, was written and directed by Crank duo Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, and co-stars the always reliable Kyra Sedgwick? Didn’t think so.
Aside from iconic stuff like The Boston Strangler and Helter Skelter, the true crime serial killer subgenre is one I’m not usually all that interested in. But I have to admit the idea of a film version of the life of crime led by Belle Gunness is rather intriguing. With some reports estimating she may have killed as many as 40 individuals, her story is certainly ripe for the telling. Adding to the project’s credibility is the fact that its script was written by Bass and Eva Mayer, whose family purchased the Gunness property and discovered her love letters.
Our last little film that could for the week is Jennifer Lynch’s Hisss. Finally after a few false starts the “official” trailer made its way online, and we can’t say enough good things about it. Everyone knows what a master F/X artist Robert Kurtzman is, but the whole snake-woman concept could have easily gone seriously wrong. Luckily for all of us, he appears to have outdone himself here. And Mallika Sherawat is a revelation. I cannot wait to see more!
Since we’re talking about badass trailers, the general consensus seems to be that they don’t get much better than what we’ve seen so far for The Road, which is why the Woman’s Story of the Week is, of course, The Road Leads to a Trailer. And this is even taking into account reports that the trailer is inconsistent with the tone and vision of the film it purports to represent. But I’m not worried. Unless something drastic happens between now and the October 16th release date, I’m fairly confident we can count on director John Hillcoat and star Viggo Mortensen to stay true to Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Otherwise I don’t think someone like Esquire’s Tom Chiarella would be so quick to proclaim it “the most important movie of the year.” Heady praise for sure; check back on October 17th to see if we concur.
