Here’s a selection of some of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week…
The Forest Set To Hit UK Cinemas in February.
The Forest is set to get an UK Cinema in February 2016. This supernatural thriller is set in the legendary Aokigahara Forest at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan, a real location for suicides in the present day. A young American woman, Sara (Natalie Dormer of “Game of Thrones” and “The Hunger Games”), goes in search of her twin sister, who has mysteriously disappeared. Despite everyone’s warnings to “stay on the path,” Sara enters the forest determined to discover the truth about her sister’s fate – only to be confronted by the angry and tormented souls of the dead that prey on anyone who wanders into the forest.
Also starring Taylor Kinney (Chicago Fire, The Vampire Diaries) and Eoin Macken (Centurion, Merlin), and directed by Jason Zada (The Houses October Built-Writer), The Forest promises to deliver a frightful experience for movie goers.
You can see the trailer HERE.
Horror Channel to Screen Friday Night Premieres in January.
Horror Channel (UK) kicks off is looking to kick 2016 off in strong style with all new Friday night premiers. Chris Crow’s much-praised cyber Brit-horror Panic Button, as well as the UK TV premiere of Texas Chainsaw, the seventh installment in the franchise, and the Network premiere of Tom Savini’s remake of Night of the Living Dead are all set to screen and there is also a first showing for the Lee/Cushing anthology Doctor Terror’s House of Horrors, directed by veteran horror maker Freddie Francis. The films run January 8 through Jan 29.
Fri 8 Jan @10.50pm – Night of the Living Dead (1990) (Network Premiere)
This remake of Romero’s all-time classic is directed by Tom Savini, Romero’s long-time special effects makeup expert and he brings all the nightmarish, bone-chilling action vividly to life. Starring the ever-reliable Tony Todd and Bill Mosely, the action centres on seven people, with nothing in common, who barricade themselves inside a farmhouse while an army of flesh-eating zombies roam the countryside with an insatiable appetite for living human flesh.
Fri 15 Jan @10.45pm – Panic Button (2011) (Network Premiere)
Chris Crow’s inventive twister explores the chilling consequences of posting too much information online and how in cyber-space no one can hear you scream. Four people win a trip of a lifetime to New York, courtesy of their favourite social-networking website – All2gethr.com. Boarding a private jet, they hand in their mobiles ready to take part in the in-flight entertainment – a new online gaming experience. But this is no ordinary game. Trapped at 30,000 feet, they must play for their lives and the lives of their loved ones by their invisible captor, who knows every intimate secret. Starring Scarlett Alice Johnson, Jo Michael Jibson, Jack Gordon, Elen Rhys and Joshua Richards.
Fri 22 Jan @11.00pm – Texas Chainsaw (2013) (UK TV Premiere)
Originally entitled Texas Chainsaw 3D, this is the seventh film in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and revolves around Heather (Alexandra Daddario), who discovers that she was adopted after learning of an inheritance from a long-lost grandmother. She subsequently takes a road trip with her friends to collect the inheritance, unaware that it includes her cousin, Leatherface, as well. Also starring are Dan Yeager, and Bill Moseley, along with Gunnar Hansen and Marilyn Burns who both appeared in the original 1974 film.
Fri 29 Jan @9.00pm – Doctor Terror’s House of Horrors (1965) (Network Premiere)
Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing star in this British horror classic from 1965, the first of a series of anthology films from Amicus, directed by the prolific Freddie Francis. Just as a train departs, a mysterious stranger, Dr. Shreck (Cushing), enters the carriage with his pack of tarot cards to tell the fortunes of five fellow passengers. The cards predict that every one of them will suffer a terrible death, but will fate deal them the same hand. Also stars Donald Sutherland, Roy Castle & Michal Gough.
Check the official website for more information HERE.
The Vatican Tapes Arrives On DVD and Blu-Ray This January
Originally premiered at Halloween Frightfest 2015, supernatural horror The Vatican Tapes is set to hit DVD & Blu-ray this coming Monday 4 January. Directed by Mark Neveldine (Crank, Crank: High Voltage, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), the film boasts a cast that includes Olivia Taylor Dudley, Michael Peña, Dougray Scott and Djimon Hounsou.
The official synopsis: After a young woman (Olivia Taylor Dudley) begins to express increasingly erratic and strange behaviours, her father (Dougray Scott) and boyfriend (John Patrick Amedori), along with a priest Father Lozano (Michael Peña) and two Vatican exorcists (Djimon Hounsou and Peter Andersson), come to realize that she’s been taken over by an ancient satanic force. It’s all up to Father Lozano to wage war for more than just Angela’s soul, but for the world as we know it…
Len Wein Returns to The Swamp after 40 Years with the All New Swamp Thing at DC.
Swamp Thing’s original co-creator, Len Wein is set to return to the iconic Swamp Thing series January 6 2016 for DC comics. Featuring art by Kelly Jones (Batman, The Sandman) and covers by Chris Sotomayor (Avengers: Vol 3), Yanick Paquette (Swamp Thing) and Nathan Fairbairn (Batman Incorporated), this is the first time Wein has worked on the character he created with the legendary Bernie Wrightson in nearly forty years. Wein recently chatted with Comic Book resources and had this to say about his return:
“A lot of what we’re going to be doing in the first six issues is exploring the DC Universe’s supernatural realm. The Phantom Stranger is going to be in it. Etrigan is going to be in it. We want to play with that and see how he relates to that world, as well as to the DCU proper, because that’s where he always belonged. When he moved out of DC to Vertigo, he lost a lot of what made him fascinating because he was such a counterpoint to all the DC characters. I am thrilled! I couldn’t be more excited!”
You can click HERE to read the whole interview, and Comic Monsters also has a quick preview with some variant cover art you can see right HERE.