1.22.2010
Will 2010 be the year for horror?
I'm excited for the year to come, as we have a lot of horror movies hitting theaters, especially in February and October. We have the return of John Carpenter, some major remakes, anticipated sequels, and even Martin Scorsese is directing a horror film. I did an article for examiner.com on upcoming horror films of 2010, check it out here.
I'm most excited for Hatchet 2, Frozen, The Ward, Cotton, and The Descent: Part 2. Although some of these films may be pushed back, I'm really curious to see if all of them actually get a decent theatrical run. If so, we're looking at weekends of back-to-back horror films in the months of February and October, which would be awesome.
What is really interesting about the year of upcoming horror films is the diversity. We have major studio fare, independent movies, sequels to fan favorites, and mixed genre horror movies. However, I am concerned that a lot of these films were announced recently and being shot quickly to hit their theatrical deadlines. Will the 2010's turn into the 80's? Will we get a steady stream of horror, some good and some bad, only to have it fall into over-saturated, mass-marketed, get-me-out-of-here land? Only time will tell...
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Looking forward to many of these, as well as Nightmare on Elm Street!
ReplyDelete2 Adam Green flicks this year. Frozen and Hatcher 2. It is the year of Green!
ReplyDelete^ NOES for me too. I too am looking forward to Hatchet 2 and Cotton as well as Mothers Day, Predators, Psych 9 and Piranha 3D among others.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say that while I'm kinda into some of the titles you listed, Becky, my main concern is that much of that material is remake or sequel-stuff, which hardly heralds a great "horror resurgence" in my book. And I hold little hope for John Carpenter, whose prolific output hasn't been really that good at all since the late '80s. (ok, I liked VAMPIRES from '98 and BODY BAGS from '93, but they're not "hits", really). Carpenter seems to have -long ago- faded into cynical hack-dom after his impressive string of excellent hits from yesteryear.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that there could be some fun films in store for us, but I don't set a lot of store in Carpenter (who's generic, flavorless Masters of Horror entries, or shitty derivative crap like GHOSTS OF MARS, were sadly disappointing, at best) or a followup like HATCHET 2, which, even if the first one was kinda fun, it was not a "good movie". It was a clumsy rehash/homage that happened to feature some lovingly-crafted kill scenes. But in this case, a sequel can only be more of the same... can't it? Example - just because a FRIDAY THE 13TH sequel came out in, say, 1989 (Part VIII, to be exact) does not mean that was a banner year for horror, either. And honestly? I like F13 Part VIII waaaay more than I like HATCHET. ;)
Soooo, yeah. I don't think there's a lot of evidence of any great or special upcoming landmarks in the genre this year, so far. But that's just me, and I'm something of a grouch.
Geof-I forgot to mention Mother's Day, because I have heard so little about it. And I actually haven't seen the original. I am definitely excited for Predators as well, we'll see if it actually comes out in 2010.
ReplyDeleteJ.Astro-I definitely agree with you about Carpenter. I'm hopeful, but yeah, he has been pretty down-in-out since the early 90's. I did like Cigarette Burns though from MoH. I can't help but be excited for The Ward though! Even if I'm setting myself up for likely disappointment.
I know that remakes aren't thrilling for the horror community, but I've always been a fan of sequels and I don't there is anything wrong with a sequel, especially for fun movies like Hatchet. The Descent also left people with a lot of questions (depending on which version you watched), so I'm down for a sequel there as well. There are plenty of original films coming out though, like Daybreakers, Legion, Frozen, Suck, The Ward, Burning Bright and Cotton (and more I forgot about or don't know about yet).
Regarding it being a big year for 2010, I think the number of movies slated for theatrical release alone amounts to something. I'm not saying this is a landmark year for groundbreaking horror films, from a creative or technical standpoint, but simply from a box office one. That is why I compared it to the 80's surge of horror, especially with all the sequels. Cash cows galore. That's also why I alluded to this being a negative thing for the horror genre in the long run. So I don't think we feel all the differently about it, maybe I'm just less of a grouch. :P
I feel that we are once again in the midst of the Horror market once again becoming over satuated, much like it was in the late 80's, even more so with the stigma of direct to DVD now removed, we are seeing even more horror titles being released, which also means that we are less likely to actually see anything of real quality, especially with Studio bosses more concerned about cashing in on the current intrest in horror.
ReplyDeleteStill you have to wonder why Hollywood must insist on remaking anything with even the hint of popularity, instead of giving us new thrill rides which will help to keep the genre fresh.
Still guess I'm the only one who will probebly be waiting for the release of saw 7!
Many of those indie entries and sequels will hopefully pan out well, but nothing has ever made me more sick to my stomach than the Wolf Man remake trailer.. I kinda just barfed a little thinking about it..
ReplyDeleteBecky - have you read the book version of 'The Descent'? It's probably of interest if you're serious about the first movie. And I think it answers questions - nay, BLOWS WIDE OPEN - the whole story behind the subterranean creatures. In fact, it takes such an epic world-view approach to the battle between us and them that it almost loses all the scary intimacy the first film created. I preferred the chills on a smaller, more mysterious scale. Having read the book (which I will admit seems only loosely connected, really) and gotten a wider scope on the proceedings, I almost feel like I can't un-see that and go back to a second film. The book and the films may be two entirely different animals, but somehow I feel that what I've read sorta supersedes anything further they can show me on the screen. This is more of a dim view than I usually take, but man, it's hard for me to get over my cynicism this time around.
ReplyDeleteLong as it isn't just another stupid installment in the Gorno revival, I'm open for anything.
ReplyDeleteBtw.: Actually I thought "Saw 6" to be surprisingly entertaining after the previous story disasters, so I kind of do look forward to see where they gonna take the merchandise now with part 7.
Man, even Carpenter's missteps (which are very few, I might add) are still entertaining at the least. I didn't love Ghosts of Mars, but it also didn't bore me. You guys need to go easier on him.
ReplyDeleteThe one movie I'm really looking forward to is Christopher Smith's Triangle. I'm interested in Frozen, but not that impressed with Green yet.
2009 was a solid year for horror and hopefully it's an indication as to how 2010 unfolds. I'm pretty excited about all of those films, but the one I might be looking forward to the most is not really a horror movie at all, but more Sci Fi, which is Inception. I also am looking forward to the movies that aren't really known about yet, coming out and blowing people away. Usually something foreign, or lower in budget.
ReplyDelete