A few choice selections from the anemic year ahead
Welcome, once again fiends, to my annual “Most Anticipated Films” preview. A look at horror movies arriving in 2011 that, at the time of this writing, are known to be arriving in the next 12 months (not films going into production) and that I’m eagerly looking forward to. And, like every year, there’s a straggler from the list I created a year before that never came out. Black Death, for instance. It made my ’10 list and comes out in February, so it goes without saying, I’m still exciting to see it. This list is subjective and based on films I think will sate my tastes. I opine in this editorial that I think 2011 is going to be a “strange” one, still, a handful of flicks stoke my curiosity. Here they are in order of release date. I’ve also included a few that are known to be arriving in 2011, but do not have dates yet.
Drive Angry (February 25, 2011)
Team Lussier-Farmer respectively had rocky starts. Patrick Lussier, editor-cum-director, helmed The Prophecy 3 and Dracula 2000. Farmer, meanwhile, made his debut with Jason X. Hey, you’ve got to pay your dues. The duo seem to be hitting their stride now. The My Bloody Valentine remake was harmless fun, they were the go-to guys when Dimension started prepping Halloween 3D (now on hold) and they’re on board the upcoming Hellraiser remake. Angry, which is already receiving some decent advance reviews from those who saw it at a screening in Texas, is a pulpy genre stew. An action-laced horror film that looks like a big screen Supernatural, with a hardened, world-weary Winchester brother on his own and on the run from hell. Beyond Nic Cage, you have the greatest mash-up of character actors that’s like an alternate version of The Expendables: Tom Atkins, David Morse, William Fichtner and Billy Burke. Fast cars and Amber Heard make this movie all the more enticing.
Rubber (February 25, 2011 on VOD)
Those bemoaning the demise of originality might want to turn to this one. It’s about a tire. He’s got a name. Robert. He’s pissed, which spells bad news for us humans, because he’s got telepathic powers and apparently he makes heads go “boom!” in a grotesque way.
Insidious (April 1, 2011)
The stuff I saw on the set of James Wan’s latest foray into horror was impressive and eerie. Compound the anticipation I felt there with my adoration for Wan’s previous feature, Death Sentence, and my love for haunted house films and, yeah, Insidious is definitely a must-see for me. Since its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, the film, I’ve heard, has been receiving quite a bit of fine-tuning to make it even better than what was screened.
Scream 4 (April 15, 2011)
Pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood⦠But will it be? Hard to tell. I can see how My Soul to Take would make anyone suspect of what Wes Craven does, but the fourth film in the Scream series finds the director in familiar territory with the old “Scream Team” back in the saddle. Then again, the whole Kevin Williamson “thing” has me leery (What “thing”? He won’t talk about the film since Ehren Kruger was brought in for rewrites). Regardless, I’m anxious to see how this chapter will a.) extend Sidney Prescott’s journey and b.) comment on horror in the last decade. Plus, I heard this was the bloodiest chapter in the series.
Super 8 (June 10, 2011)
Is anyone else getting the feeling that J.J. Abrams is now doing his own Cloverfield? We still don’t know what this film is really about, but the teaser trailer promises something big and nasty is going to stomp the shit out of a quaint American town. That’s got my butt in the theater seat this summer.
The Apparition (August 20, 2011)
Todd Lincoln, the man who was behind the Hack/Slash movie for so long, makes his feature directorial debut with this tale of college students whose lives are screwed by a malevolent, supernatural entity. While discussing Hack/Slash, Lincoln waxed eloquently about his “vision” for that film. I have no doubt Lincoln put an equal amount, if not more, love into Apparition which is said to be in the vein of The Entity or Poltergeist.
Here are a few others I want to see real frigginâ bad: The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence), The Pack, Pascal Laugier’s The Tall Man (photos here) and Bustillo & Maury’s Livid (photo here).
Releases that fill me with apathy: Red Riding Hood (March 11), Priest (May 13), Fright Night (August 19), The Thing (October 14).
Source: Ryan Turek, Managing Editor
