MOVIES
Daybreakers - 1/9This vampire thriller made the festival rounds last fall, and the buzz has been quite positive. With the perpetually angsty Ethan Hawke in the lead, it tells the story of a world overrun by vampires, in which both bloodsuckers and humans must find a way to survive. So basically I Am Legend with smarter vampires and more survivors?
The Wolfman - 2/12
The project everyone seems to be waiting for, including yours truly. I've been reporting on this thing literally since The Vault of Horror launched. Will it be an awesome reinvention of the Universal classic, or does the neverending stream of catastrophes associated with it indicate maximum suckage? Only one thing is certain: By contracting "Wolf Man" into one word, the character now sounds more like an accountant than a bloodthirsty monster.
Shutter Island - 2/19I always wanted a Scorsese horror movie, and at last I'm getting one. And you can call it "thriller" all you want, Paramount marketers, but this baby is a horror movie--embrace it! Marty has proven he can do it all: gangster pictures, musicals, period films, biblical epics, and now a fright flick. If only DeNiro and Pesce could make a cameo appearance and give Leo an old-school stompdown...
A Nightmare on Elm Street - 4/30
I've said it before, and I'll say it again--count me among the interested. Not a fan of the new makeup, but Jackie Earle Haley is a very promising Freddy, and I think this one may be a lot better than most expect it to be. Although after most of Platinum Dunes' previous remakes, the bar is not particularly high.
The Descent 2 - (release TBD)It's already been released elsewhere around the world, but we're Americans, so none of that really matters to us. Bottom line is, the highly anticipated sequel to Neil Marshall's superb film--voted here on The Vault as the finest horror flick of the past 20 years--will be coming to U.S. shores at some point in the new year.
Let Me In - (release TBD)
Sigh. I will not, repeat, NOT be going to see this sacrilege in theaters, as I do not wish to monetarily contribute to such a wrong-headed clusterf*ck of a remake. I will, however, be checking it out via other means at some point... How can you resist the perverse urge to see exactly how completely Matt Reeves and company will utterly violate the finest horror film of the 21st century?
Survival of the Dead - (release TBD)Not sure, but I'm thinking this will be going direct-to-video--that seems to be the progression that's been going on with Romero's latter-day zombie movies. Festival responses have been somewhat mixed, but I take that with a grain of salt, since I very much enjoyed both Land of the Dead and particularly Diary of the Dead. And this looks like it may be better than both of those. So what do I know?
Other stuff worth mentioning: Legion (lookout, killer angels!!); The Crazies (Romero gets the remake treatment); Season of the Witch; Piranha 3-D (carnivorous fish flying at your face!!); Saw VII (yep.... yep.)
P.S. Check out another great 2010 movie preview over at Monster Land...
TELEVISION
The Walking Dead (airdate TBD)
AMC, the people who seem to be at the forefront of quality TV series these days, bring you the anxiously awaited series adaptation of Robert Kirkman's fan favorite zombie comic book. I lost my enthusiasm for the book long ago, but I've long hoped that someone would have the good sense to adapt it to the small screen, so I'll surely be tuning in.
Dexter, Season 5 (September)Rita is dead. Debra is closer than ever to discovering her stepbrother's true nature. The FBI is sure to pick up on Dex's connection to the Trinity Killer. In short, life for America's favorite serial killer has gotten pretty messed up. It will be fascinating indeed to see how the guy will be able to go on, and if he will continue to indulge his "dark passenger". Plus, will he now be arguing with TWO ghosts instead of one?
True Blood, Season 3 (June)
HBO's vampire series picked up a ton of steam and a serious fan following with the second season, and a lot of people are waiting to see what will happen next. Eric will most certainly be making his play for Sookie, and speaking of the lovely Southern belle, will we find out what the deal was with that weird new power she discovered? Rumor has it we will also be getting werewolves (vamp vs. werewolf? hmmm...) and meeting the Vampire King of Mississippi.
NOVELS
The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology - 2/16A new zombie fiction collection? Count me in. There have been some good ones in recent years, and with contributions from the likes of Joe Hill, Max Brooks and Jonathan Maberry, this one looks like a keeper.
Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: The Graphic Novel - 5/4
With the rumored TV miniseries not coming until next year, this looks to be your fix for all things Jane Austen/ghoul related in 2010.
Ancestor: A Novel by Scott Sigler - 5/4
I thoroughly enjoyed Sigler's 2008 tome Infected--he's definitely one to watch. This particular project began life as a series of audio podcasts sold online last year to an extremely positive reaction. This is the first time it's appearing in printed form.
Under the Dome by Stephen King - 9/13The master of horror fiction's latest novel, first published last November, comes to paperback. I've had a love/hate relationship with the nation's most famous Red Sox fan since Four Past Midnight, but the author's return to supernatural horror does sound reasonably compelling.
Other stuff worth mentioning: Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton (those Anita Blake novels do seem to have a significant following...); Horns by Joe Hill; Abe Sapien: The Drowning by Mike Mignola; The Ghoul by Steve Niles & Bernie Wrightson (classic Swamp Thing artist, kick-ass!); Frankenstein: Lost Souls by Dean Koontz (the latest in Koontz' own take on the classic character)
Looking forward to a few of those movies but Let Me In and the NOES remake leave me shuddering, and not in the good kinda way.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely love The Walking Dead series and I had heard it may go the way of TV show. I'd like to see how that works out.
I gotta say, the trailer for "The Crazies" looks pretty darned good!, just watched the original recently, and, you know, it may benefit from remake?
ReplyDeleteApparently a third editor has been brought in last minute for Wolfman.
ReplyDeletehttp://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-is-getting-ridiculous-two.html
Let Me In can eat my shorts...but yes, I'm pretty excited for most of these things :D
ReplyDeleteESPECIALLY DEXTER & TRUE BLOOOODDDDD
Ethan Hawke has always struck me as a poor man's Tom Cruise (well, before Tom lost his mind and all his cache). And I'm always wary of remakes, especially of movies that were already great. And Stephen King is totally hit or miss these days. His short stories are better, and just go to show that it's sometimes what you don't say that is most compelling.
ReplyDeleteCannot wait for the Descent follow up and I'm pumped for Daybreakers this Friday.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed Descent 2 will Rock Like the 1st! Nightmare on Elm Street might be Great the original and part 3 Dream Warriors where the Best of what 8 sequels!
ReplyDeleteThe Descent 2 is on top of my list. How do you followup the supposed best horror movie of the decade?
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping Frozen is good too.
I'm one to watch? Awesome! I hope all your readers pick up ANCESTOR when it comes out, and thanks for the props.
ReplyDeleteso much horror goodness in one spot! B, this is why I love the vault so much, you get me jazzed and remind me why I love horror so much. Thanks for the the 2010 preview.
ReplyDeleteLater days,
Christopher Zenga
My pleasure Scott, my dad and I remain great fans of your work!
ReplyDeleteAnd Chris, thanks for the kind words!
First Hopkins does a Dracula film, now the Wolfman...well count me in.
ReplyDeleteThe mere thought of Let Me In makes me choke on my Fruit Loops. Gah!
True Blood - oh yeah! Dexter, too. Wondering what kind of turns that one's gonna take with Dex as a single dad.
I have the hardback Under the Dome but haven't started it yet, it's like friggin' War & Peace thick.
And LKH has a novella coming out in February called Flirt - it's an Anita Blake story....if anyone is still interested in her erotica -whoops, I meant books....I'll wait for paperback.
Great post:)
Of the major release stuff, I'm most excited about Daybreakers. The Spierig brothers are just so cool and Undead was great, imo.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a new Dan Simmons book out called Carrion Comfort that is supposedly one of the most frightening he's written (which says a lot).
The Crazies might be ok, but are they really going to focus on the horrors of martial law like Romero did, or just the visceral stuff?
Just a note about Dan Simmons book, Carrion Comfort - it was written in 1989, I have it - and it's awesome. It received the Bram Stoker award that year. It is obviously being re-released, and I highly recommend reading it;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for clarifying, Chrissy. Carrion Comfort is indeed awesome, I own it as well.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's good to know, C.L. Hadden. I hadn't heard of it, but have seen it all over the book stores lately. I assumed it was new because I'm not familiar with all of Simmons' output. Trying to remedy that.
ReplyDelete