Howdy, folks! It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for the horror haul, our weekly round-up and one-stop-shop for all things horror. This week in horror news,Rick and Mortytake on horror classics likeRe-AnimatorandPoltergeistin a new round of the claymation shortsRick and Morty’s Noncanonical Adventures,Hulu’sLocke & Keyadaptation gets a new director,Alexandre Ajaand Oculus set up shop on a VR horror series, andCastle Rockadds another genre regular to the cast.
Elsewhere, we’ve got new trailers for the head trip Shudder originalKuso, the festival hitDevil’s Gate, a shamelessThe Conjuringripoff,Conjuring the Witch’s Doll, along withGhost HouseandThe Hatred.
For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site this week, you can click through the links below. Then, check out other genre highlights from the week and finish it all up with a rundown of the week in horror movie trailers. For more, be sure to hit upCollider Nightmaresor our round-up of thebest horror movies on Netflix. Thanks for tuning in, and sound off in the comments with your thoughts, questions, and other horror musings.
Interviews
‘Rick and Morty’ Spoof ‘Poltergeist’ , ‘Re-Animator’ and More
Ahead of the long-awaited Season 3 premiere,Rick and Mortyare back at it again in the claymation shortsThe Non-Canonical Adventures of Rick and Morty. This time, they’re taking on some genre favorites, includingJames Cameron’sAliens,Joe Dante’sGremlins,Stuart Gordon’sRe-Animator,Tobe Hooper’sPoltergeistandStanley Kubrick’s2001: A Space Odyssey. The shorts come from stop-motion animatorLee Hardcastle.
Rick and Mortyreturns to Adult Swim on July 30. Catch up with the latest installments ofThe Non-Canonical Adventures of Rick and Mortybelow.
Andy Muschietti Steps in for Scott Derrickson on Hulu’s ‘Locke & Key’
ITdirectorAndy Muschiettiis taking over forScott Derrickson(Doctor Strange, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) at the helm of Hulu’s hour-long horror fantasyLocke & Key. Per Deadline, Derrickson had to step down from the project after running into a scheduling conflict with his other upcoming television project, TNT’s serialize adaptation ofSnowpiercer.
For Muschietti, that means he’s moving from his highly-anticipated Stephen King film to take on a project by King’s son, Joe Hill, an acclaimed genre author in his own right who wrote the comic book the series is based on.Bates MotelandThe StrainproducerCarlton Cuseis set to serve as showrunner.
Here’s the synopsis for the comics, via Amazon:
Following their father’s gruesome murder in a violent home invasion, the Locke children return to his childhood home of Keyhouse in secluded Lovecraft, Massachusetts. Their mother, Nina, is too trapped in her grief—and a wine bottle—to notice that all in Keyhouse is not what it seems: too many locked doors, too many unanswered questions. Older kids Tyler and Kinsey aren’t much better. But not youngest son Bode, who quickly finds a new friend living in an empty well and a new toy, a key, that offers hours of spirited entertainment. But again, all at Keyhouse is not what it seems, and not all doors are meant to be opened. Soon, horrors old and new, real and imagined, will come ravening after the Lockes and the secrets their family holds.
Alexandre Aja Teams with Oculus for VR Horror Series
The Hills Have EyesandHornsdirectorAlexandre Ajais teaming with Oculus and VR studio Future Lighthouse for a horror VR seriesCampfire Creepers. The “episodic immersive” project is inspired by anthology series likeCreepshowandTales from the Crypt.Robert Englund, of Freddy Krueger fame is set to drop in for a guest appearance.
VR is an exciting front for entertainment, but one filmmaker still haven’t mastered yet. I’m of the belief that the format has to find a way to overcome the way the format cuts the viewer off from the world around them. No matter what gimmicky delights a VR experience can offer I’m always acutely aware that I’ve become deaf and blind to the real world and it’s distracting. We’ve seen how AR can break out (Pokemon Go, Spachat’s little hot dog dude), but VR hasn’t quite got there yet. That said, not a lot of folks are doing long-form narratives, so I’m exited to see how this turns out.
Check out the details in the press release below:
The live action anthology series, directed and produced by Alexandre Aja, responsible for horror hits like The Hills Have Eyes and Piranha, invites the viewer to join the fire circle at Camp Coyote as a group of campers take turns telling scary stories, each one leading you on an immersive ride into your darkest childhood fears.
Inspired by cult classics like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt, Campfire Creepers is one of the first pieces of episodic immersive content that seeks to draw in more mainstream viewers into VR. One of the episodes includes a guest appearance by Robert Englund, known for his legendary turn as Freddy Krueger.
In each episode Alexandre Aja and Future Lighthouse will push the VR story telling limits of what has been done before, utilizing new camera movements, editing, macro shots, etc., always playing with what could be possible to bring more chills to the viewer’s experience.
Campfire Creepers is currently filming and first episodes will be released this Halloween exclusively in the Oculus Store.
‘Castle Rock’ Recruits ‘IT’ Star Bill Skarsgard
Produced by King andJ.J. Abramsand developed for TV bySam ShawandDustin Thomason(Manhattan),Castle Rockalso set a pilot director this week.Mad MenandAmerican Horror Storydirector Michael Uppendahl has been tapped to helm the first episode and will take on his first pilot gig for the Hulu series.
Plot details are scarce at the moment, but here’s the official sereis description forCastle Rock:
A psychological-horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse,Castle Rockcombines the mythological scale and intimate character storytelling of King’s best-loved works, weaving an epic saga of darkness and light, played out on a few square miles of Maine woodland. The fictional Maine town of Castle Rock has figured prominently in King’s literary career:Cujo, The Dark Half, ITandNeedful Things, as well as novellaThe Bodyand numerous short stories such asRita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemptionare either set there or contain references to Castle Rock.Castle Rockis an original suspense/thriller — a first-of-its-kind reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories.
Trailer Trash: ‘Kuso’ Is a Mindbender; ‘Conjuring the Witch’s Doll’ Is a Blatant Rip-Off
Kusohttps://www.youtube.com/embed/bZ3GJxzVkIs
Broadcasting through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, KUSO depicts the aftermath of Los Angeles’s worst earthquake nightmare. Viewers travel between screens and aftershocks into the twisted lives of the survived, experiencing a hallucination that is half-Cronenberg, half-Ren & Stimpy.
Ghost Househttps://www.youtube.com/embed/U9WvN8WVtrw
A young couple, Jim and Julie, are vacationing in Thailand where Julie falls in love with photographing small shrines called“Ghost Houses” that are believed to give spirits shelter and comfort. A couple of British travelers take them into the countryside with the promise of showing Jim and Julie a ghost house graveyard where many of the shrines are discarded. After leaving the graveyard with a souvenir, Julie is increasingly plagued by visits from a malevolent spirit that threatens both her sanity and her life. After Julie is literally frozen in a state of terror, Jim must find a way to lift the curse before he loses Julie to the ghost world forever.
The Hatredhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/TjDRxmcMei0
Sins from the past return to terrorize the present in this shocker from a producer of Halloween. When recent college grad Regan goes to a family’s house to babysit their daughter for the weekend, she invites her three best gal pals along. What starts as a girls’ getaway becomes a journey into hell, as the young women discover the house is haunted by a dark and violent history involving a Nazi (Wishmaster’s Andrew Divoff), his daughter, and an ancient artifact that feeds on fear.
Conjuring the Witch’s Dollhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/97aYLCuMGRE
Ambitious young true crime writer Adeline Gray travels to a remote English village to unravel the mystery behind a family’s murder. While investigating the prime suspect’s now derelict ‘Manor in the woods’, she notices a creepy life-size Victorian doll is following her from room-to-room. After a series of terrifying and inexplicable events, she believes the doll is carrying a hateful spirit wanting to be left alone. Desperate for a career defining story, Adeline’s persistent search for answers soon puts her too at the mercy of the Witch’s Doll.
Devil’s Gatehttps://www.youtube.com/embed/01wjYvoqRkc
The film is set in a small town where an FBI Agent, played by Schull, comes to investigate the missing wife and son of a local rancher, played by Ventimiglia.
