Stephen King's THE STAND Gets the Big Screen Treatment

Recently I've had some time on my hands, so I've decided to go through my never ending stack of unread Stephen King novels and start powering through them. The one on top, The Stand, had been sitting there for some time as it just never sounded all that interesting to me. Oh was I wrong, I now consider that book to be one of my all time King favorites, and I was very excited to read this tidbit of news that was apparently released a few days ago.

I had heard rumors of a motion picture adaptation, but it all seemed to be a bunch of whisper. Apparently not. This shit is goin' down, and Josh Boone is leading the way. While I don't enough about Boone to say that he would be wrong for the project, his ideas for casting are making my knees weak and that alone makes me think he may be right for the project.

It was originally reported that Matthew McConaughey was being pursued to play the role of Randall Flagg. In more recent news, later the same day, Josh Boone took to Twitter to present a very tasty bit of news refuting that.

I have always wanted McConaughey as Stu and Bale as Flagg. Still not sure how that story leaked - just not true.
— Josh Boone (@JoshBooneMovies) August 23, 2014

Holy shit. I don't even know what to say.

When I first read that McConaughey was being considered for Flagg, my thoughts immediately were "That's interesting, he may be a better Stu, but he would still be phenomenal Flagg". Seeing Boone's tweet made me want to cry.

McConaughey would not only be a magnificent Stu Redman, but Bale as Flagg, I never would've thought of and I love it. While the miniseries was fun, it neutered a large part of the fear that King's novel goes into gory detail to impart. It's understandable, but this is being said to be a 3 hour, rated R, epic saga closely mimicing the vibe of the novel. Yes and Yes.

Now I pray to the Gods of Hollywood and pray that this works out.

Leatherface Is Back... Yet Again

Well, it appears that another Chainsaw film is in the works. Bloody-Disgusting broke the news days ago, and it was confirmed, that we will now be seeing a franchise wide prequel depicting the events that take place before the events of the Hooper's classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. It's being described as taking place during Leatherface's "teen years". 

It was originally described in a BD exclusive that it would take place in between Hooper's original and the travesty that was Texas Chainsaw 3D, but now it appears that it will be taking place before Hooper's original. Confusing, I know.

I don't know what you guys are thinking about this, but after seeing TC3D, I'm not exactly excited about seeing Leatherface return quite so soon. Especially being that the same folks are still behind it. 

What say all of you?

Horror Game SILENT HILLS Conjures Up Hilarious Scares in Japan

If you are into horror gaming, it appears that Hideo Kajima has some surprises in store for you. Widely believed to have been working on a new project entitled P.T., it was revealed that he fooled us all and if this teaser is any indicator, it's looking to be awesome.

Entitled Silent Hills, Kajima has collaborated with Guillermo del Toro and Walking Dead star Norman Reedus to deliver a product that they promise will make us "shit our pants". Below you'll find a teaser which features a variety of sweet little Japanese ladies who appear to be "shitting their pants", and it's the funniest thing I've seen in weeks.

The demo is available for free download on the Playstation store, and this has left me hoping that it will be available on PC as well.

PET SEMATARY Script To Be Finalized By Summer's End

According to Dread Central, another writer has stepped up to the plate to take on the screenplay for Stephen King's acclaimed novel Pet Sematary. 

Word of the remake began circulating some time ago, there has been radio silence since then, but now we have some definitive word from Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train), who has been working on the script with director Juan Carlos Fresnadilla (28 Weeks Later). 

“Paramount had a script from Matt Greenburg and then brought Juan Carlos on, and they were looking to do some work on the script, and then I came in. Juan Carlos and I collaborated on a new outline for the film, Paramount loved our pitch, and I’ve been writing the first draft of the script. It’s very exciting.”

Commenting on the original 1989 horror classic, which was directed by Mary Lambert and based on the novel of the same name by horror legend Stephen King, “The original has a very special place in my heart,” said Buhler. “The film fits perfectly in the time period [in which it was produced], and the source material is one of the Stephen King books that I read as a teenager that made me flip out, and I’ve read it more than once since then. It’s a fantastic book and a fantastic story.”

With the narrative revolving around a family that moves into a new home next to a cemetery with powers that allow the creatures buried in it to come back from the dead, Buhler stated of his approach to the remake, “Now that I’m a father and I have a six-year old and a two-year old, all of the horror within that story that comes from losing a child is suddenly very real and tangible and utterly tragic [to me]. I think the one element that we are trying to bring to this version of Pet Sematary is a sense of truth and honesty in the horror and really take it back to the original material. I think that in the 80’s movie it’s a little campy in places, and we are trying to get away from all of that and really get back to the core of the story, which is that of the family dealing with grief from the loss of their child and the horror of breaking the laws of nature as a result of that. Juan Carlos in particular is very focused on the emotional elements and how they could be represented in a visual context that is compelling.”

“We are being very respectful to the book,” he continued, “and we are not tying ourselves to anything in the first two films at all. We are [also] bringing in some fresh elements that speak to the spirit of the story that aren’t in either one.”

“If you look at the core of it, of what’s going on with the family, it’s an absolutely disturbing story,” Buhler offered. “I think the heart of the story has to do with Louis and his relationship with his kids and grappling with that dilemma when kids ask you what happens when you die and what you believe in. It deals with these big questions in such a personal way, and that is classic Stephen King. They are huge ideas, but they are told through a very identifiable, close-knit family unit, and that’s so powerful so we are just immersing ourselves in that – the loss, the grief, and the horrific results of people making really, really bad decisions.”

As for the tone of the script as it pertains to the eventual film’s intended rating, “I try not to get too hung up on that while writing, especially because this isn’t like a Texas Chainsaw where there’s going to be a lot of ripped open abdomens and people chewing on intestines or anything like that,” he said. “It’s already going to exist somewhere on that line between R and PG-13. If the studio feels like they need to market it as PG-13, then it will be the most hardcore PG-13 movie you could get away with. There are a couple of deaths, but with this one the horror is a little more atmospheric. The big concern of course is that you are killing children, which studios are always loathe to do, but it’s a King story and that’s at the center of it so Paramount knows what they are getting into. There’s no question that kids are gonna die.”

“We’ll be done with the first draft by the end of the summer,” Buhler said of the current status of Pet Sematary, which is being produced for Paramount by Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Mark Varhadian.

“Juan Carlos and I have been working very closely from the beginning so I think the process will be very quick. It’s not going to be one of those situations where there’s a script that the studio likes but then they bring on a director who has a bunch of new ideas and then it goes back into the scripting process for another six months. Because we are doing everything with the director from the beginning, hopefully we won’t be far from where we need to be [with the first draft] when we are done.”

As most of you are well aware of, I am one of the bigger King fans out there. In regards to Mary Lambert's 1989 vision of the source material, I think it's one of the worst things that has ever happened to King's work (and yes, I'm including all those mini-series i.e. The Stand, Stephen King's The Shining, etc.). However, I was excited when this project was first announced, although at the time Alexandre Aja was heavily rumored to take the directors chair. When Fresnadilla was announced as the director, my opinions became impartial, but after reading what Buhler has to say about it, my excitement is back. I think we may actually get a great remake out of this. I don't necesarilly hate remakes, I believe that some films should be remade and Lambert's original is at the top of my list. 

Crucify me, applaud me, do as you will, just sound off below! What do you think about this remake?  

THE SHINING Prequel THE OVERLOOK HOTEL Trudges Onward...

Header courtesy of NabundaNada @ DeviantArt

As a horror fan, it's hard to report news like this without any bias. You guys know my stance on The Shining, and the place that it holds in my personal life, and as happy as I am to know that this isn't a remake I am still a bit uncertain about the news that The Overlook Hotel, a prequel to Kubrick's masterpiece, is in the works and has secured a director. 

I think that out of all the remakes/reboots/what-have-you that the horror world has seen in the past decade, this will draw some of the heaviest speculation simply because Kubrick's work is regarded as some of the best in the film world, not only the horror world. 

Rumors of this project began circulating sometime ago and it appears that they were more than just rumors. Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) has laid claim to the directors chair with a draft written by Greg Mazzara (The Walking Dead). James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider Man), Brad Fischer (Zodiac) and Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) will be producing. In May, Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) was heavily rumored to have first rights in terms of directing the flick, and in all honesty, I would be much more interested in he were the one helming the project. His use of atmosphere in Gravity was mesmorizing, and while Romanek's One Hour Photo was plenty chilling, that film came out twelve years ago. That's a pretty big gap between major productions, minus the slew of music videos he's directed over the years. 

King's original prologue (which was later cut before the book went to print in '77) stands as the basis for the film, which "will tell the origin story of the Overlook Hotel through the eyes of its first owner, Bob T. Watson. A robber baron at the turn of the 20th century, Watson scaled the remote peaks of the Colorado Rockies to build the grandest resort in America, and a place he and his family would also call home“.

For now, as always, we wait and we see what's going to come of this new project.  No word has come of yet as to whether or not King will be involved, but seeing as this is one of the novels that hit's closest to home for him, I can't imagine that he won't. Hopefully Romanek won't Kubrick him and effectively shut him out of production on this one, as my hope for this project lies in whether or not King is involved. 

Either way, speculation is fun and there is going to be a ton of that going on until we get more details. Will they recreate the same look for the Overlook? Will they use the original source material and film at the Stanley, as King's mid-90's mini-series did, in Estes Park? Will we see Dan Lloyd return for a cameo in this installment? And what about getting backstory from the original? Will we see the massacre of the Grady twins, or the demise of the woman in room 217 (although it will probably remain 237 for continuity's sake)? 

What do you all think? Are you ready for another jaunt in the halls of the Overlook? 

EXCISION Director Richard Bates, Jr. Is Back With SUBURBAN GOTHIC

If you haven't seen Excision yet, go to Amazon, steam it and thank me later. Richard Bates, Jr. managed to craft an amazing horror film in his debut effort, you can read my review here, and I am very excited to see that he's back with his next flick! 

While Excision was a very dark and macabre film with bits of dark humor, Suburban Gothic appears to be a horror comedy at it's finest. It also features an amazing cast of horror favorites, including Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, Dead End), John Waters (Excision) and Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, Would You Rather?). The flick stars Matthew Gray Gubler (Criminal Minds), which I'm pretty excited as I've thought he'd be great in a good horror flick, and Kat Dennings. 

"Quirky young Raymond has been having a tough couple of months. Even with his recent college degree, he can’t find work in the big city — and he’s realizing that it’s time to swallow his pride and move back in with his overbearing, suburban parents.

Little does he realize, however, that this temporary layover in Middle America is going to be anything but mundane… Haunted by otherworldly visions since childhood, Raymond soon finds himself beset upon by spirits intent on making his time at home as miserable as possible. His only outlet for sanity seems to be local bartender Becca who, aside from chasing off the same bullies who wanted to beat Raymond up in high school, finds herself drawn to his endearing quirkiness. Together, the duo find themselves unraveling the mystery behind a century-old murder — and scaring up plenty of laughs along the way."

Check out the red band trailer below and sound off in the comments! I think it looks pretty solid, I'll definitely be looking forward to this one. 

Header courtesy of BloodyDisgusting.com

Kate Beckinsale Stars in New Thriller THE DISAPPOINTMENTS ROOM

Courtesy of Deadline, news has broken that Relativity has closed a deal to fully finance The Disappointments Room. Kate Beckinsale (Underworld) has signed on to star in the film that will be directed by D.J. Caruso (Disturbia).

"Inspired by a true event, The Disappointments Room tells the story of one family’s terror-filled encounter within their own home. Looking for a fresh start, Dana (Kate Beckinsale) and David, together with their 5-year-old son Jeremy, move into their dream house, a beautiful old rural home. Hidden within the attic was a secret room. When frightening and unexplainable events lead Dana to discover the long lost key to this room, she accidentally unlocks a host of unimaginable horrors that reveal the house’s past is terrifyingly tied with her own."

The film is being described as a "Shining-esque" thriller which, of course, piqued my interest from the get go, but it gets better from there in that Wentworth Miller (writer; Stoker) has penned the script, and I absolutely loved Stoker. 

The Disappointments Room will be begin shooting in August. 

HORROR ON TV - ROSEMARY Gets Her Due Date

I know I've been gone for a while (please don't hate me), in addition to moving offices I am knee deep in moving homes, so the past two weeks have been chaos. I felt like I had to post something though, and luckily enough NBC decided to share something totally news worthy!

Their miniseries based on Ira Levin's novel, Rosemary's Baby, has received it's release date so mark your calendars for mid May as the 2 part, 4 hour miniseries will air on Sunday, May 11th (and according to Bloody-Disgusting, again on May 15th). This gives us exactly one month from today to begin our build of excitement. I suppose that this is as good a time as ever to cross the novel off my To-Read list. I think I'll also give the film another viewing, I think it'd be fun to compare all three when the miniseries debuts. I loved doing that with Stephen King's The Shining, which I'm actually a fan of compared to the backlash that most fans gave the miniseries.

The miniseries stars Zoe Saldana in the titular role, along with Carole Bouquet, Jason Isaacs and Christina Cole.

“It centers on Rosemary Woodhouse (Zoe Saldana), a young wife and would-be mother who, with her husband Guy (Patrick J. Adams), moves into a Paris apartment that has a dark past. After finally getting pregnant, she becomes increasingly suspicious that both her husband and their mysterious neighbors have ulterior motives about the future of her child.” 

HORROR ON TV - ROSEMARY'S BABY Rolls Out Another Promo

A couple weeks ago, NBC rolled out the first promo for their 4 hour miniseries based on Ira Levin's novel, Rosemary's Baby, if you can even calling that. It was a 3 second shot of a baby carriage with the grating sounds of a baby screaming in the background. More annoying than entertaining.

Well today we get an actual promo with real footage! It's not much, but it's something and to be completely honest I felt a bit ripped off with that first promo, especially if that's what NBC decided to deliver for their "miniseries event". You can watch it here, but save your energy for the new one below as it's miles above and beyond the first.






I do love the idea of the miniseries though. Obviously the horror-on-television well is beginning to dry up, as we're moving on to pre-existing properties to fill the small screen (i.e. Scream, Teen Wolf), but I'm all about it if it's going to be approached in the terms of a miniseries. It worked beautifully (in my humble, and not widely accepted, opinion) for Stephen King's The Shining, as it gave the audience an opportunity to see more of the rich and multi-layered backstory presented in the book that was never shown in Kubrick's telling of the Torrance family story. Plus, it helps maintain the integrity of the original story as opposed to updating, changing and chopping in hopes of securing another season. 

Anyway, in getting back to Rosemary's Baby, the new take on the classic horror story “centers on Rosemary Woodhouse (Zoe Saldana), a young wife and would-be mother who, with her husband Guy (Patrick J. Adams), moves into a Paris apartment that has a dark past. After finally getting pregnant, she becomes increasingly suspicious that both her husband and their mysterious neighbors have ulterior motives about the future of her child.”

Waxwork Records Pleases Again With CREEPSHOW Reissue

If you love horror and you love vinyl, than Waxwork Records should be one of your favorite companies in the world. Heaven knows they're one of mine, and I always get excited when they break news on their next big project. This time they've set their sights on the amazing horror anthology, Creepshow! 

The art for the sleeve and gatefold was done by Gary Pullin and the soundtrack was remastered from the original master tapes, which were lost for over 30 years. This really is something special. 

To commemorate that, Waxwork is going to be offering FIVE different vinyl variants! Below you'll find more details on each of those versions as well as pictures of the art and gatefold! 

Vinyl variants: Father’s Day: Cake Icing vinyl with Blood Clot splatter Something To Tide You Over: Transparent Ocean Blue vinyl The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verill: Transparent “Meteor Shit” green vinyl The Crate: Fluffy Fur Gray vinyl with Blood Clot splatter They’re Creeping Up On You!: Cockroach Brown vinyl 

The Beautifully Restored TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE Gets It's Release Date!

To celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the one of the most iconic horror films of all time, Dark Sky Films and NOLO Engineering spent a grueling 5 months (of 40 hour work weeks) to completely restore Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. 

While most people will wax philosophical about Halloween being the god father of slasher films, I will stand firmly in my beliefs that that title was claimed four years earlier (although if you want to get technical, 1960's Peeping Tom was the first slasher film). It's a magical film that was created under disgustingly painful circumstances that you can literally feel when you're watching it. It was and always will be one of my favorite horror films and the opportunity to see it on the big screen is one that I am honored to get. I mean, this is coming from the guy that sleeps beneath a framed TCM poster. As a native Texan, it's how I show pride for my home state.

SO, before I get emotional and ramble on for another eight paragraphs, today Dark Sky Films announced the theatrical release date for the restored film: June 20th! 

It's safe to say that the film will also see a blu-ray release, most like special edition, as well, but that date has yet to be released. You can read more about the exhaustive efforts to restore this film here and here, I've been covering it pretty heavily. 

So will you be going out to your local theater to partake in the depravity? Heaven knows I will. I almost want to see if it will be playing at a drive-in in the LA area. Now that would make it a perfect experience, no?

HORROR NEWS: Gene Jones and AJ Bowen Team Up Again In DEMENTIA

One of most anticipated films of this year has to be Ti Wests follow up to 2011's The Innkeepers, the cult based faux-documentary The Sacrament. The flick stars Gene Jones and AJ Bowen, and news broke yesterday that they've both been tapped for Boulderlight Pictures' new flick, Dementia.

Bloody Disgusting reported yesterday that Mike Testin (cinematographer of Contracted) will direct the flick, which has been described as a mix of Misery (yes!) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (YES!). Two of my absolute favorites, especially the latter (which seems to get NO love). The film will be about "an elderly war veteran who is forced by his estranged family to hire a live-in nurse after finding out he has been diagnosed with Dementia, only to find that she harbors a sinister secret.”

As already mentioned, Gene Jones (No Country for Old Men) and AJ Bowen (You're Next, The House of the Devil) will star with Kristina Klebe (Rob Zombie's Halloween), Marc Senter (The Lost) and Hassie Harrison in a script penned by Meredith Berg (Blood List).

HORROR ON TV - AMERICAN HORROR STORY Season 4 Theme Is Confirmed!

American Horror Story can largely be credited as one of the leading forces in bringing about this horror tv show revolution that we're currently in the middle of. The first season created waves that were cemented by the second season and now the series is about to enter it's fourth.

I'll openly admit that I didn't watch season three. It held literally nothing of interest for me, and seemed like it was more tailored for the female demographic. I will eventually settle in and give it a go, but that's what makes American Horror Story's format so great. It's an anthology; you don't have to watch every season. While some people loved Murder House, others were bigger fans of Asylum (myself included), still others were fans of Coven.

Well, get prepared for season four's offering: American Horror Story: Carnival. Whether or not that will be the title, it has officially been confirmed (via Nerdist Writers Panel podcast) that season four will take place at a carnival in the 1950's. The only other tidbit of information is that Jessica Lange will once again star, this time with a German accent.

So what do you think? Did you watch Coven? Which was your favorite season? Sound off below!

INSIDIOUS Franchise Trudges Along - Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson Divulge CHAPTER 3 Details at SXSW

It appears that the Insidious franchise is already starting to fall privy to the the tired franchise trope. It appears that actors Patrick Wilson, nor Rose Byrne, will be returning for the newly announced Insidious: Chapter 3. According to Leigh Whannell (writer) and actor Angus Sampson, the film will (which has a tentative release date in spring of 2015) focus on a whole new family and their whacky adventures in The Further.

Matt Donato at We've Got This Covered interviewed the two at South by Southwest in Austin, TX and was able to get some details surrounding the new addition:

WGTC: So you’re both coming back for Insidious 3 I’m assuming, as Specs and Tucker?
Leigh Whannell: Yes, yes, you’ll see some Specs and Tucker. [Laughs]
WGTC: So are we going to go even harder on the comedy, or will there be a step back?
Leigh Whannell: I don’t know, I always thought that a little of Specs and Tucker goes a long way.
Angus Sampson: Agreed.
Leigh Whannell: I think they were always meant to be side characters. Insidious was great fun because I wrote it and I wasn’t even planning to be in it, then all of a sudden I’m like, “Well, she has an assistant.” Then I was like, “Well, I’ll get Angus involved, how great would that be to have my mate come over from Australia!” So we ended up doing this thing and it was so fun. But I wouldn’t want it to be – I think it’s like chocolate. You eat enough and you’re like, “Blah, chocolate!” One piece is enough, but [Specs and Tucker] will be back and I’d like to do something different with them, you know?
WGTC: So my other question of course deals with the ending of Insidious Chapter 2, when Lin Shaye’s character sees something, and she gasps right before cutting to black. Did she see something from her past? A future demon? Where is Insidious 3 going?
Leigh Whannell: I don’t think we’re going to continue with that for the sequel. I can’t say too much, but I think we’re going to go off in a different direction with a new family, and not pick up from where the second one left off. I think Patrick [Wilson] and Rose [Byrne] have had enough punishment – we need to move on and punish someone new. I think that’s probably all Jason Blum would allow me to say, he’s comfortable with me telling people we’re not going with the Lambert family again. It was great to write because it was like writing the first film.

Welp, there you have it. Will Insidious be able to survive without the Lamberts? Franchises certainly lose a huge oomph when this is the case, but only time will tell. There are still plenty of teenage butts to cram in those theater seats. 

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE Gets Restored For Summer Theatrical Release!

 
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is one of the top tier horror films in my life. There is no one single film that turned me onto the genre; it was a combined effort in which TCM played an integral part. It showed me the terror beyond Satan, ghosties and ghouls; it showed me the very real terror of the atrocities that human beings are capable of. 

Yesterday news broke that, in honor of the films 40th anniversary, the original 16mm film that it was shot on has been transferred to a beautiful 4K scan. Taking a staggering 5 months, of 40-hour workweeks, to complete the restoration, Boris Seagraves (engineer at NOLO) stated, “This film probably needed the most restoration of any project we’ve done.”

It was originally filmed on 16mm film, which was not exactly the best quality of film at the time, and also meant that there was no negative. The result was hodge podge of rough splices, dirt spots, scratches and film stains. Seagraves went on to say, “There were hundreds, if not thousands, of instances where you’d find a splice mark cooked into the middle of a frame. Some frames would have close to two hundred dirt events on them. We also spent a lot of time stabilizing the image. When doing a digital scan of a conformed 16mm print with a splice at every cut, it can be tough to achieve the high standards we all aspire to in the era of digital cinema. What might have passed as acceptable in the 70′s looks jarring now. So we worked hard to smooth out the tremors that almost inevitably occur when scanning this type of film element. There were tears in the film that we had to digitally rebuild from adjacent frames. There were tens of thousands of things we were dealing with."

 Tobe Hooper, director of TCM, was heavily involved in not only the video restoration but the audio as well. I am much more excited about this aspect than that of the video, however Hooper says that the film has never looked better: “I haven’t seen The Texas Chain Saw Massacre on the big screen for many, many years. This 40th anniversary restoration is absolutely the best the film has ever looked. The color and clarity is spectacular, displaying visual details in the film that were never before perceptible. The newly remastered 7.1 soundtrack breathes new life and energy into the film. I am very much looking forward to audiences experiencing this film as they never have before.”

The prospect of seeing this film on the big screen for the first time, as always, excites me like no other. There is something about this film that will also send a tickle of excitement down my spine. I don't think I'll ever forget how excited I was when I held that VHS in my hands for the first time; it was this taboo thing that I had heard of, this film that shocked the world. To be completely honest, I don't know how I feel about the restoration of the video. Part of what makes this film are all those dirt spots and scratches and inconsistencies. It makes the film seem quasi-voyeuristic, like Leatherface himself spliced the film together as a deranged monument to his family. At the same time, it's very exciting to know that steps are being made to ensure that this film is never lost with time. I couldn't be more excited about the audio restoration though. That makes a horror film, and one like this in 7.1 surround sound in a crowded movie theater sounds like heaven.

The restoration will premiere at this years SXSW Film Festival, and news of the theatrical release this summer will break in the coming months. 

HORROR NEWS: Eli Roth Names His Next Flick As The Home Invasion Horror - KNOCK KNOCK

Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever, Hemlock Grove) is back and it seems that he may just be hotter than ever. After Open Road recently acquired distribution rights to Green Inferno (his homage to Cannibal Holocaust) for a summer release, Eli Roth not only has a hand in Ti West's The Sacrament, but he also just named his next flick. 

Knock Knock tells the story of "two young girls who show up unexpectedly at the home of a married man where they seduce him and wreak havoc on his perfect life."

The script was co-written by Roth, along with Nicolas Lopez and Guillermo Amoeda. He is also co-producing with Colleen Camp (Squirrels to the Nuts). The flick is scheduled to start production in the next couple months. 

Roth has yet to tap into the home invasion market, and while I haven't seen much of his recent work, I am excited about it none-the-less. Roth has shown time and time again that he is first and foremost a horror fan, which in my opinion, is one of the most important and most defining factors of what makes a great director in this genre. 

HORROR NEWS: Rob Zombie's Hints at New Horror Flick; To Be in Same Vein as THE DEVIL'S REJECTS!

Things have been wild and crazy in the world of Rg Lovecraft. In addition to enjoying speaking in third person, I've been working on another musical project which has been taking up almost all of my time, and to be honest, the world of horror has been a bit dry (news wise) for me for the past week or so. Atleast until today that is, there's a whole slew of fun stuff that I'll be sharing today!

First and foremost, Rob Zombie made a very exciting announcement today. For those that do not know, Zombie has been working on his first non-horror feature, a sports flick called Broad Street Bullies and in May of 2013, he made a public statement that The Lords of Salem was his last horror flick for an unforeseeable about of time.

HOWEVER, in a recent article posted a New Zealand based news site, Zombie elaborated on his waning love for horror (due to over exposure), why he moved forward with the hockey flick and he let this wonderful little tidbit fly: 

"I was working on this thing called Broad Street Bullies, which was a hockey film, but that got put on the backburner because something else popped up."

Hmmm, I wonder what that could be? He goes on to say:

"I'd been working on this hockey film for over two years, it took so much research and work, and I was literally sitting with someone going, 'You know, I have this other idea…' 

And I said the idea and they go, 'We'll make that!' And I put together a one-line pitch, because I didn't want to go to pitch meetings and do all that. I'd call them on the phone and go, "Here's my idea, blah blah blah,' and they're like, 'We're in!' So you slave over something for years and it's still difficult, and you say some crazy thing off the top of your head and they say 'Where do we sign?'. And that turned into a weird bidding war. And that became the next film."

However, I have to say, the most exciting bit of info is this: 

 "I think it's something fans of the other stuff will like. Probably fans of The Devil's Rejects will enjoy the most. It's not connected to that film but it's more on that headspace".

YES. I think most Zombie fans have been patiently awaiting his faithful return to, if not, The Firefly Clan, then something similar. That style of horror is hands down my favorite; the gritty, true-to-life aspects hit close to home with ANYONE and that is what makes horror a truly terrifying experience, in my opinion.

It's probably going to be while before we hear or see anything, but it's good to know that Zombie's back. I only hope that his love for the genre is reinvigorated. I'd rather have him do nothing than do a piss-poor horror movie that lacks that passion and love that TDR reeks from every pore. 

HORROR NEWS: More Word Trickles Down the IT Grapevine!

More word has come in regarding the eternally rumored revised adaptation of Stephen King's IT. It was announced some time ago that True Detective director Cary Fukunaga (pictured below) would be writing and directing the new adaptation, this time for the big screen. Apparently that's still happening, atleast according to Dan Lin, the film's producer, as he tells us here:

“Cary Fukunaga is writing and directing Stephen King’s It for me, and I’m really excited for that,” explains Lin. “So I’m hoping that’ll be his next movie after the indie he’s shooting in Africa. So I love what he did with True Detective. I think it’s a great sample for Stephen King’s “It.” So I’m really excited about that.”

From what I hear True Detective is a pretty damn decent show as it boasts an extremely impressive 9.4/10 stars on IMDB. That alone makes me want to hunker down for the pilot and see if Fukunaga has the chops to do this film justice.

Stephen King's novel that spawned a million childhood fears of clowns was adapted for the small screen as a 4 part mini-series in 1990, and starred Tim Curry as the eponymous IT, or Pennywise. The story follows 7 children, known as the Loser's Club, who encounter the otherworldly beast and battle for their lives, once in 1958 and again, when it returns to feed in 1985. 

While details are scarce regarding the script yet, it's not even clear as to whether or not Fukunaga has begun writing it, but Bloody Disgusting reports that it will be set in the "present day". Whether that means 1985 present day as in the novel, or 2014 present day, all I know is that I'm hoping and praying it means 1985. I'll be a mite upset if we see Stuttering Bill and Beverly sexting eachother. 

New Stills From Joe Begos' ALMOST HUMAN

On February 21st, Joe Begos' creature feature inspired flick, Almost Human, hits VOD platforms and select theaters and they are gearing up by releasing up a new set of hi-res stills!

I am excited about this one, if for no other reason than simply that it'll be the first in-theater horror flick of the year for me! It's been far too long since I hunkered down to one in a theater, I believe the last one was The Shining on All Hollows Eve. 

In what is being called The Texas Chain Saw Massacre meets The Thing, "Mark Fisher disappeared from his home in a brilliant flash of blue light almost two years ago. His friend Seth Hampton was the last to see him alive. Now a string of grisly, violent murders leads Seth to believe that Mark is back, and something evil is inside of him."

The flick was directed by Joe Begos' and stars Graham Skipper, Vanessa Leigh and Josh Ethier. It is being released by IFC Midnight on February 21st. Dig on those tasty hi-res pics below and take a peek at the trailer if you haven't already!

HORROR ON TV: BATES MOTEL Re-opens On Monday, March 3rd

Have you been watching Bates Motel? The A&E show has been garnering tons of attention, and appears to be quite the smash-hit. I must admit, I have yet to catch an episode, but I will be doing so very soon seeing as the first season will be available on Netflix starting February 1st.

The second season has been hotly anticipated, as the clips and promotional photos keep on rolling out. ExtraTV posted this trailer on Friday that features a rather creepy Norman Bates, played by Freddie Highmore, crooning along to Mr. Sandman while his mother (Very Farmiga) plays the piano.

With all of the great attention that this one is getting, it has to be pretty good, right? Albeit, I'm not a huge fan of The Walking Dead, this one seems more up my alley. I'm just hoping that it holds my interest longer than Hannibal did, I'm not a huge fan of updating classics to fit in with modern times, so we'll just have to see.

If you watch Bates Motel, I'd love to hear your opinions! That means the good and the bad, I like hearing all different view points. Sound off below, and enjoy the trailer for Season 2, premiering Monday, March 3rd on A&E.