This week’s week in horror was packed with new trailers for all sorts of weird stuff, including Ti West’s new one for A24, the Foo Fighters haunted house flick, and one of the most mind-bending trailers I’ve seen in a while that happens to centre around one massive egg. I’ve also got some literary horror news from our good pals over at St Rooster Books, if you’re all set for movies. Check it all out here!
I’m a huge fan of Natalie Erika James’s Relic, so I was pretty hyped to hear from Deadline this week that her next project, Apartment 7A, is moving ahead with producer backing from A Quiet Place’s John Krasinski and Platinum Dunes. We’ve got the first casting details, and it seems that Ozark’s Julia Garner has signed onto the project. Garner’s no stranger to horror, going back to her roles in Martha Marcy May Marlene and We Are What We Are. If Relic was any indication, expect Apartment 7A to make a big splash. I’ll report on release details when the production wraps!
We got a new image for the upcoming Texas Chainsaw sequel from Fede Alvarez, and it’s Sally Hardesty (Mandy’s Olwen Fouéré)! Check out this shot, courtesy of USA Today, ahead of Texas Chainsaw‘s Netflix release on February 18.
We got the first trailer for A24’s new horror outing this week – Ti West’s X. I get strong Texas Chainsaw vibes from this film that’s set against the backdrop of the independent porn industry, and which stars Mia Goth, Kid Cudi, Brittany Snow, and Jenna Ortega. X is Ti West’s first feature since his 2016 film, In the Valley of Violence, and his first horror outing since 2013’s The Sacrament. Get yourself a taste of X ahead of it’s theatrical release on March 18, 2022!
Blumhouse and Keith Thomas (The Vigil)’s reimagining of Stephen King’s Firestarter is underway and before it’s ready to burn up theatres, we’ve got some early details about the project. We found out from Bloody Disgusting this week that the fiery tale has earned an R rating for “violent content” (the same rating as the 1984 Drew Barrymore film) and that Ryan Kiera Armstrong (IT Chapter Two) will take on the role of pyrokinetic kid Charlie. Also joining the cast are Zac Efron, Sydney Lemmon, Michael Greyeyes, and Gloria Reuben. The script was penned by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills).
Indiewire reported that Searchlight has picked up a horror called Fresh out of the Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight lineup, ahead of it’s premiere this week on January 20. Mimi Cave’s film stars Sebastian Stan, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Andrea Bang, Jojo T. Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, and Dayo Okeniyi. Cave directs from a script by Lauryn Kahn.
In Fresh, “frustrated by scrolling dating apps only to end up on lame, tedious dates, Noa takes a chance by giving her number to the awkwardly charming Steve after a produce-section meet-cute at the grocery store. During a subsequent date at a local bar, sassy banter gives way to a chemistry-laden hookup, and a smitten Noa dares to hope that she might have actually found a real connection with the dashing cosmetic surgeon. She accepts Steve’s invitation to an impromptu weekend getaway, only to find that her new paramour has been hiding some unusual appetites.”
Fresh will premiere on Hulu on March 4, 2022.
Deadline reported that James DeMonaco is ready to follow up his wildly-successful Purge franchise with a new project for Miramax called The Home, and the horror-thriller has it’s first casting news in the form of SNL alum and target of Kanye West’s wrath, Pete Davidson. In The Home, “Davidson will play Max, a troubled man who starts working at a retirement home and realizes its residents and caretakers harbor sinister secrets. As he investigates the building and its forbidden fourth floor, he starts to uncover connections to his own past and upbringing as a foster child.”
Shudder will be bringing one of my favourite films from this year’s Fantasia Festival, Hellbender, home on February 25. The film is a labour of love from the Adams family (not that one) – stars Zelda Adams, Lulu Adams, and John Adams and Toby Poser (who also direct). There’s a lovely DIY feel to the film that also pulls no punches when it really gets going.
In Hellbender, “16-year-old Izzy (Zelda Adams) leads an isolated life on a lonely mountaintop with her mother (Toby Poser) due to a rare sickness. Questioning her illness and starving for companionship, Izzy sneaks down the mountain where she befriends the brazen older girl Amber (Lulu Adams). Just as Izzy finally begins to feel happiness, a drinking game involving a live worm unleashes a new kind of insatiable hunger within her. Confused and scared, Izzy appeals to her mother for answers but the family’s secrets are as old and dark as the bloodline from which they’re born.” Have a look at one of the wildest trailers you’re likely to see all week!
If you’re up for some literary horror, friends of BBP, St Rooster Books has a great deal going to kick off 2022 with a couple of subscription offerings. Each sub will net you a year of content from St Rooster, which includes books, chances to win merch, and all sorts of other goodies. There’s a subscription ($40/year or $80 for 2 years) to St Rooster’s punk/horror literary mag, Stranger With Friction, edited by BBP’s own Tim Murr, which releases quarterly. You can also get a beefier sub ($130) to St Rooster’s entire book release schedule for 2022, which includes all four issues of Stranger With Friction as well as at least 10 (and likely more) books over the course of the year.
To get ahold of this bounty of beastly delights, head on over to the St Rooster site for details!
Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair was one of the hottest tickets to come out of Sundance last year, and has been doing great on the festival circuit. The film’s based on a creepypasta about a young woman who’s drawn into the world of online meme challenges and a game where participants repeat, “I want to go to the World’s Fair” in the mirror, Candyman style.
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair comes to theatres and digital on April 22 and stars Anna Cobb. Check out the first trailer here!
IFC Midnight brings this week’s strangest trailer with it’s preview of Hanna Bergholm’s Hatching, which premieres at Sundance this week. Bergholm directs from a script by Ilja Ratusi.
In Hatching, “12-year-old gymnast, Tinja (Siiri Solalinna), is desperate to please her image-obsessed mother, whose popular blog ‘Lovely Everyday Life’ presents their family’s idyllic existence as manicured suburban perfection. One day, after finding a wounded bird in the woods, Tinja brings its strange egg home, nestles it in her bed, and nurtures it until it hatches. The creature that emerges becomes her closest friend and a living nightmare, plunging Tinja beneath the impeccable veneer into a twisted reality that her mother refuses to see.”
Check out the absolutely bugnuts trailer before the film hits theatres on April 29th, courtesy of IFC Midnight.
Finally, we got the first trailer for the rockin’ Studio 666, starring Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters crew and which hits theatres on February 25. The raucous horror sees the band hole up in a house to record a new album, only to find that they may not be alone. This one looks way better than it has any right to be, on paper, so check out the trailer here!
