The Tuesday Top 10: Favorite P.J. Soles Lines

Moving right along with this week's P.J. Soles Blogathon, here's a look at some of my favorite pronouncements from one of the most quotable scream queens of all time...

10. "You're really not gonna come? You're gonna miss out on the prom?" (Carrie)

9. "Go get me a beer!" (Halloween)

8. "I only use it on special equations." (Rock 'n Roll High School)

7. "Don't rip my blouse, it's expensive, you idiot!" (Halloween)

6. "I'm gonna treat it like a UFO sighting. I saw something, but I'm not quite sure what it was." (Stripes)

5. "So who cares? I always forget my chemistry book and my math book, and my English book, and my, let's see, my French book, and... well who needs books anyway, I don't need books, I always forget all my books, I mean, it doesn't really matter if you have your books or not... hey isn't that Devon Graham?" (Halloween)

4. "I'm a teenage lobotomy." - (Rock 'n Roll High School)

3. "Tom Roberts is so boring his brother is an only child." (Rock 'n Roll High School)

2. "Totally." (Halloween)

And of course...

1. "See anything you like?" (Halloween)


For more in the P.J. Soles Blogathon, keep your greasy eyeballs glued to the Vault's sister blog, Day of the Woman!

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Chloe Moretz Goes Vamp in Reeves' Let Me In

By Paige MacGregor

The first image of Chloe Moretz in Matt Reeves’ Let Me In appeared online Friday courtesy of Entertainment Weekly (although the image quality isn’t great because it was only available in print and therefore had to be scanned for the internet). Moretz is best-known for her recent breakout role as the controversial foul-mouthed, gun-toting superhero Hit Girl in Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass. When not decked out in a black mask and purple wig, Moretz looks like any other 13-year-old girl; vulnerable and innocent, perfect for her role as the unassuming yet inherently creepy young girl named Abby in Let Me In.

The image doesn’t give us much information about Reeves’ film, a remake of Swedish vampire movie Let the Right One In (based on the book by John Ajvide Lindgvist), unless you’re already familiar with the original. The blood dripping down Moretz’ chin in the still, however, does indicate that the actress gets to do some vampy stuff; and given her credentials, we’re hoping it’s more along the lines of Kick-Ass than Twilight. Regardless, the image confirms that Moretz really is involved with Let Me In (Let Me In is slated for release this October, and it was hard for me to believe I’d get another dose of the young actress in the same year as Kick-Ass), which has me much more excited about Reeves’ remake than I otherwise might be.

Despite the fact that I was bored by Let the Right One In (I know, I know, it’s an amazing movie and I’m going to re-watch because everyone tells me that it’s so good), I’m expecting quite a bit from Let Me In given the immense talent of Chloe Moretz, who reminds me of a young Natalie Portman in The Professional. I’m particularly curious to see Moretz’ portrayal of Abby, a mysterious girl who befriends the film’s protagonist, a 12-year-old outcast named Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Let Me In will follow Owen, a lonely boy who spends his days plotting revenge on the children that bully him and his nights spying on the other inhabitants of his apartment complex. Owen meets and befriends Abby, a girl around his age who only comes out at night and always with bare feet, seemingly impervious to the effects of the elements.

Peter Hall of Cinematical.com had the opportunity to speak with Matt Reeves at SXSW, and at that time the director made comparisons between Chloe and Linda Blair in The Exorcist:

"When I was working on Chloe I kept saying, it's not about playing a vampire,
it's about taking her and making her real and to deal with those darker sides of
ourselves, the primal nature. When you think of the Exorcist you think of Linda
Blair and pea soup and all this madness, but really if you look at the first
half of that film, the stuff between her and Ellen Burstyn is so naturalistic
and so real. She's incredible in it! People think 'Oh, it's the Exorcist and
she's just doing crazy,' but she's so terrific in it and so believable as this
young, 13-year old girl. That was really what I meant in the approach of trying
to get into that tone. To take this story as if it were utterly real, and if
it's real, that would be horrifying."

For more information on Reeves' film, visit the IMDb page for Let Me In.

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Psycho Semi-Centennial: Before It Was a Classic - Excerpts from Original Reviews

Time heals all wounds, and it also apparently adds some perspective. For example, perhaps you're familiar with how The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind, West Side Story and other films generally regarded as excellent today were soundly panned by critics upon their original release. Well, Psycho was another one of those which, while perhaps not roundly rejected, did get a decidedly mixed reaction from reviewers in 1960 (though certainly not from audiences, who made it the biggest money-maker of Hitchcock's career.)

Psycho is an interesting example, as the first round of reviews from publications like Time, Newsweek, Esquire and The New York Times were negative--and then, as audience opinion proved significantly contradictory, and Hitchcock himself amped up the buzz surrounding the flick with a brilliant marketing campaign, many critics and periodicals flip-flopped. By the end of 1960, it was already being hailed as a modern masterpiece, and was strongly represented at the Oscars. But it's fascinating to see the initial knee-jerk repugnance of critics who perhaps had some difficulty processing what they were seeing. Here are a few snippets:

With such game afoot, the experienced Hitchcock fan might reasonably expect the unreasonable—a great chase down Thomas Jefferson's forehead, as in North by Northwest, or across the rooftops of Monaco, as in To Catch a Thief. What is offered instead is merely gruesome. The trail leads to a sagging, swamp-view motel and to one of the messiest, most nauseating murders ever filmed. At close range, the camera watches every twitch, gurgle, convulsion and hemorrhage in the process by which a living human becomes a corpse.

...Little should be said of the plot—Hitchcock enjoins all viewers to be silent—except that Anthony Perkins, who plays an amateur taxidermist, is sickeningly involved, and that a blow is dealt to mother love from which that sentiment may not recover. Director Hitchcock bears down too heavily in this one, and the delicate illusion of reality necessary for a creak-and-shriek movie becomes, instead, a spectacle of stomach-churning horror.

Time Magazine, June 27, 1960

Mr. Hitchcock, an old hand at frightening people, comes at you with a club in this frankly intended bloodcurdler...

There is not an abundance of subtlety or the lately familiar Hitchcock bent toward significant and colorful scenery in this obviously low-budget job. With a minimum of complication, it gets off to a black-and-white start with the arrival of a fugitive girl with a stolen bankroll right at an eerie motel.

Well, perhaps it doesn't get her there too swiftly. That's another little thing about this film. It does seem slowly paced for Mr. Hitchcock and given over to a lot of small detail...

That's the way it is with Mr. Hitchcock's picture—slow buildups to sudden shocks that are old-fashioned melodramatics, however effective and sure, until a couple of people have been gruesomely punctured and the mystery of the haunted house has been revealed. Then it may be a matter of question whether Mr. Hitchcock's points of psychology, the sort highly favored by Krafft-Ebing, are as reliable as his melodramatic stunts.

Frankly, we feel his explanations are a bit of leg-pulling by a man who has been known to resort to such tactics in his former films.

The consequence in his denouement falls quite flat for us. But the acting is fair...

The New York Times, June 17, 1960

I'm against censorship on principle, but that killing in the shower makes me wonder. And not because of the nudity; I favor more nudity in film.

Esquire, June 1960

Plainly a gimmick movie...

Newsweek, June 20, 1960

Time Magazine would later issue a new review describing the film as "superlative" and "masterly". And the New York Times' critic, Bosley Crowther, would later name Psycho among his top 10 films of 1960.

See, kids? It's all about perspective--initial reviews aren't everything. Who knows, in future years, film students may be studying Birdemic, Halloween 2 and The Happening! OK, maybe not...

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Hump-Day Harangue: Harold Ramis, I'm Ready to Believe You

The confirmation seems to have finally solidified. Writer/producer/actor Harold Ramis, also known to fans as Dr. Egon Spengler, collector of spores, molds and fungus, has officially declared in an interview this month with Heeb magazine that the third film in the Ghostbusters franchise will lense next summer, with a 2011 release date planned. And I couldn't be happier.

Here's part of what he had to say:

Something's going to happen. Dan [Aykroyd] did write a spec GB3 screenplay a few years ago, but no one was motivated to pursue it. Now, 25 years after the original, there seems to be some willingness to proceed and apparently a substantial public appetite for a sequel. We'll introduce some new young Ghostbusters, and all the old guys will be in it, too. Think Christopher Lloyd in Back to the Future. [not sure what the heck that means]

Granted, I think I have a bit of a sunnier outlook on all these latter-day continuations of '70s/'80s franchises than some. While we can all agree that--with the exception of the second half of Revenge of the Sith--the Star Wars prequels were utter abortions, I wouldn't say the same, for example, about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crysytal Skull, which, although it was no Raiders by any means, I got a kick out of. I also geeked out hardcore to Bryan Singer's Donner-faithful Superman Returns, and was utterly blown away by Stallone's return in Rocky Balboa.

So, why not the Ghostbusters? As a kid, it was my favorite movie, hands-down. And while the sequel was one of the major letdowns of my young moviegoing years, I've still always held out hope that a superior third installment would happen. I even remember getting excited some years back thanks to rumors of a new GB flick that would include Chris Farley and Chris Rock amongst the new generation. Sadly, that never came to pass.

But now, this. Ghostbusters fever has been growing lately, as the '80s generation is now at the height of its decision-making power in Hollywood (see Transformers and G.I. Joe. Well, on second thought, don't.) We've seen major excitement this year surrounding just a new video game using the original cast members, so it was a no-brainer that interest would resurface in a Ghostbusters 3.

The optimistic part of me believes that with this many people involved--quality individuals mind you, the Murrays, Weavers and Reitmans of the world--it would have to be an impressive project to get them all on board at all (although I can hear the Crystal Skull haters chiming in on that one). Still, I particularly feel this way about Bill Murray. The guy has gone on to be such a bigger deal than he was even then, and has a rep for choosing solid roles. He has nothing to gain by being part of a lackluster sequel, and I'd bet he was the toughest one to convince to take part at all. So it gives me hope that he'd consent to be involved.

What also gives me hope is a very interesting tidbit of information leaked earlier this month. It's divided the fan community, but you can count me among the intrigued. Apparently, while promoting Avatar to the press, Sigourney Weaver let slip that in the new movie, Dr. Peter Venkman will be... a ghost.

If you've been monitoring the news, then that's no news to you, but I have to say that it has me more jazzed than ever. Talk about throwing the status quo out the window and going all-out! With Venkman as a spook, this will definitely be no by-the-numbers nostalgia-driven reunion movie. This is something different, unique, and interesting. This shakes things up.

What will be the dynamic? Will he be at odds with his fellow Busters since crossing over to the other team? Will he still be a part of the team, even in phantasm form? What, if anything, will be his relationship with Dana, and their son Oscar--who, at this point, is rumored to have grown up to be one of the famous paranormal investigators and eliminators?

Add to this the fact that the guys behind the American version of The Office are penning the script (possibly based on Dan Akroyd's older treatment?) and this is shaping up to be something of a potentially highly entertaining nature. It's been two decades since the boys in gray donned their proton packs (unless you count Ray Stantz' 1995 cameo in the Casper movie, which I sure as hell don't), and I'm more than ready to welcome them with open arms.

Back off man, their scientists.

From the Vault archive: My picks for the young Ghostbusters...

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Looking for a Review of Paranormal Activity?

Paranormal Activity. It's been the talk of the horror blogosphere (and beyond) for days now. It has garnered that very coveted buzz as a rare film that is seriously frightening everyone who has the opportunity to see it, in the way films of previous generations like The Blair Witch Project, The Exorcist, Psycho and Frankenstein did. And yet, it is currently only playing in a mere 13 movie theaters across this fine land of ours. And none of them are anywhere near me.

I am in the process of securing a review for The Vault of Horror, but in the meantime, for those curious, I'd like to direct your attention to a particular FOV (that's Friend of the Vault--act like you know) who has been lucky enough to see the film.

Here's a link to a video review from a visibly shaken Maweanne of The Spooky Brew that's well worth checking out. She was on-hand a couple days ago for the infamous L.A. premiere that was covered by MTV News...

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Patrick Swayze Was Originally to Cameo in Zombieland...

While it seems a bit fishy and somewhat cynical right after his death to release this "news", Shock Till You Drop is reporting that the late '80s icon Patrick Swayze was originally supposed to have a prominent cameo in Zombieland, set to debut in theaters next month.

In an interview at STYD, co-writer Rhett Reese states:

"That was many years ago, before he got sick. It was [going to be] a Patrick Swayze zombie. They got attacked by him zombified and we had these wonderful moments where they found a potter's wheel and there's Columbus on the wheel and these other hands come up behind him and it's Patrick Swayze the zombie. Ultimately, they fight and Patrick bull rushes Tallahassee who grabs him and lifts him into the air, a la Jennifer Grey, and smashes him into a pillar."

Apparently, this all was slated back when Zombieland was planned to be a TV series pilot some years ago. Swayze had to decline the offer due to his condition, and along the way the project morphed into a feature film.

Meanwhile, the idea of the celeb cameo zombie survived, with the filmmakers reportedly going after a number of actors such as Sylvester Stallone, Mark Hammill, Joe Pesci, Kevin Bacon, The Rock, Matthew McConaughey and Jean-Claude Van Damme. In the end, they managed to nab Bill Murray for the role, and already there are reports that his appearance is the comedic highlight of the film.

While I do concede that a Swayze zombie would've been cool, I'd just like to give a great big "BOOOO, HISSSSS!!!" to the Zombieland marketing team for choosing to capitalize on the actor's passing as a way to promote their film. Thanks.

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I'd like to thank the one and only Wes "Fierce" Cavins, a Vault Dweller from way back, who was kind enough to pimp the VoH blog banner. Thanks Wes, you rock sir.

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50 Cent Discusses New Jekyll & Hyde...

Not long ago, we got wind of one of the more head-scratching new projects of late--a "reimagining" of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, to star Forrest Whitaker and 50 Cent. But since May when the project was announced, it's been pretty much kept under wraps, until now.

On Friday, 50 Cent--a.k.a. the world's worst actor--finally broke the silence, talking to MTV about the movie and his role in it:

"It's gonna be intense. [Abel Ferrara] is an excellent director, so his creative ideas will definitely be an injective into what it's actually gonna turn out to be."

A free Vault of Horror T-shirt to anyone who can explain to me what that even means... Anyway, Ferrara, some of you may know, was the director of the controversial and acclaimed 1992 Harvel Keitel film Bad Lieutenant, and of course Whitaker is one of the finest actors of our time (if you haven't seen The Last King of Scotland yet, do so immediately). Mr. Cent, however, is just another rapper wannabe-actor littering our beloved genre with his presence. Sigh...

Fitty even acknowledged the running gag of no one being sure which actor was going to play which role. For the record, according the MC, he will be playing Mr. Hyde, and Whitaker will be Dr. Jekyll. Also, the film will be modernized to take place in the present day. Shooting is set to begin at the end of the summer.

John Barrymore. Fredric March. Spencer Tracy. Jack Palance. Michael Caine. John Malkovich. 50 Cent. "One of these things is not like the other..."

The sad thing is, this would have the potential to be quite excellent with Whitaker playing both Jekyll and Hyde, as every actor who has ever previously tackled the role has done. But with the stone-faced and marble-mouthed rapper stepping into the juicy part, its much more likely that this film will be an embarrassment than anything else. As someone who has been anxiously awaiting a new adaptation of Stevenson's novel, color me frustrated.

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In the grand tradition of Day of the Woman's "This Just In" posts, I had two random images I wanted to share with you tonight. They're from the fifth birthday party of my son Skeleton Jack (a.k.a. Wee-Sol). As most of you may have gathered from our vlog yesterday, Wee-Sol is a rabid Godzilla-phile like his old man, so it was no wonder that he chose Big G as the theme for his party!

Check out the boss cake, made using a high-res jpeg I snagged off the internet. Stop-n-Shop was able to scan the image and slap it on the cake in the form of delicious sugary goodness! What will they think of next?


Later on, it was Godzilla vs. A bunch of kids, as we strung up the pinata effigy of the radioactive monster in the backyard... OK, so Godzilla isn't blue. Yeah, it's just a random T-Rex pinata. Look, we did the best we could. They couldn't tell the diff anyway, the clueless little partygoers. Anyway, here's a shot of the lynched lizard, moments before I had to step in and decapitate him with a Swiffer handle...

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Eli Roth Opts Out of Hostel 3

I'm not at all a fan of the Hostel films, but someone out there obviously supported them, so this news will no doubt be of interest to some of you out there. Shock Till You Drop is reporting that Eli Roth, the Splat Pack auteur who gave us Cabin Fever and both Hostel flicks, will have nothing to do with the upcoming direct-to-DVD Hostel 3.

Said Roth to STYD:

“I’m just not involved in any way. I just said, ‘I put everything in my life for three years into these movies. I’ve said everything I have to say with it. I feel very lucky I got to make them and the fans responded the way they did, and if you guys want to continue it, great, go ahead.'”

This would be a similar move to what Roth did with Cabin Fever 2, the follow-up to the film that first put him on the horror map in 2002. The director--soon to be seen in front of the camera in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds--will instead be working on Endangered Species and Thanksgiving (an expansion of his hilarious Grindhouse faux trailer) as his next two projects.

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Horror Movie Quotes! Get Your Horror Movie Quotes Here!

Because I'm a sucker for great horror movie quotes, and also because I already spent my creative energies crafting a fine guest post tonight over at Day of the Woman, I'm sharing with you tonight the fruit of someone else's hard work. Enjoy this collection of memorable quotes/scenes from some all-time fan fave fright flicks, courtesy of hexxus3:





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And if you haven't already, head to DotW to check out said guest post, an in-depth look at the rising trend of horror fandom in the female population...

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OMG! Vanessa Hudgens Loves Horror Movies...

You know what the toughest part is about being an affiliate for both Bloody-Disgusting and FEARnet? It's the fact that I can't really rely on reporting on anything that gets covered on either of those sites, since much of my traffic often comes from there, and I don't want those poor readers to be stumbling on stuff they've already just read. And so... sigh... I'm left with nights like this one, when I dig through the dregs of horror-related goings-on and come upon chestnuts like this one.

I guess I'm more amused at the notion that this actually made news, more than anything else. It seems, people, according to ShowBizSpy.com, that Disney darling Vanessa Hudgens loves horror movies! Here's what Zac Efron's High School Musical co-star/girlfriend and Perez Hilton's least favorite human being had to say:

“I love scary movies but recently, not so much. I live by myself now, so if I watched a scary film I would not be able to go to sleep. So I need to have someone there with me. I love horror classics like The Exorcist and Poltergeist.”

You hear that, guys? Anyone up to the task? I know my seven-year-old daughter would be all over it. She loves her some horror movies, and some High School Musical! I think she'd get a kick out of introducing V-Hudge to Bloodsucking Freaks and Zombie Holocaust. Just kidding--I haven't shown here those yet, of course. That can wait till fourth grade.

Ironically, Hudgens' next two upcoming projects have a horror tinge to them--next year's Beauty & The Beast-inspired Beastly, and the fantasy-thriller Sucker Punch in 2011.

Hmmm. I admit, I could've put more effort into putting something together for tonight's post. But I didn't. Whatcha gonna do about it? Nothing. That's what I thought.

Here's to increased motivation tomorrow!

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Whoopi Wants to Get Scary

As if the stuff she's already acted in isn't frightening enough, veteran unfunny comedienne Whoopi Goldberg apparently longs to grace the horror genre with her eyebrowless presence. Here's what she had to say on Wednesday to Contactmusic:

"I've always wanted to do horror. No-one will let me do horror, but I think I'd be the best monster because no-one would suspect me. I'd be under the couch, they would say, 'Oh, there's Whoopi' or 'There's that character that looks like Whoopi.' But they'd never suspect I would reach out and grab them and eat the entire family. No one! Because people think I'm very sweet and very nice."

It's true, Whoopi has never appeared in a horror movie in 27 years in the business (unless you count a tiny bit part in Bordello of Blood). I suppose the closest thing would be Ghost, which isn't close at all. And which, along with The Color Purple, is one of the only watchable things she was ever in. I vote she stays on The View rather than sullying my fave genre with her tiny sunglasses-wearing, Frank Langella-loving self. Thoughts?

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For those who haven't seen it yet, I've once again invaded Day of the Woman with another Woman of the Week entry. This time out, it's Gloria Holden, better known as Dracula's Daughter! To enjoy my unmistakable prose style, go here.

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Kane Hodder Speaks!

I advise you to head on over to Shock Till You Drop, where you'll find an exclusive interview with the legendary Kane Hodder, the big lug most closely associated with Jason Voorhees on the big screen. Hodder played the masked behemoth more times than any other actor, but right now he's promoting his newest flick, BTK, in which he plays serial killer Dennis Rader.

Hodder talks a bit about BTK, of course, but he also has a lot to say about other aspects of his career, including shenanigans on the set of Hatchet, acting vs. stunt work, and most interestingly of all, his opinions on the recent Friday the 13th remake, which he was infamously not asked to take part in. Here's a snippet:

"I haven't seen it yet, but I intend too because I'm a horror fan. I definitely have to see how Derek [Mears] did, because Derek's a friend. Even though I think I should be wearing the mask, I still want to see how he did and he wants me to give him my thoughts because it's not an easy part to play as people have found out. They think 'Oh, you just need a big guy and he has to do some violent things,' but it's not as easy as it sounds because most guys overact. You can tell by the way they're standing that they're trying to look scary, and that totally ruins it for me. So I want to see if Derek looks more natural than the other guys."

Hodder even gets into the whole "running Jason" controversy. Check out the interview in its entirety here.

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Clive Barker Praises New Hellraiser Director, Trashes New Pinhead Design

Ryan Rotten over at ShockTillYouDrop has an exclusive up with Clive Barker that is pretty interesting. Kudos to Ryan for getting the notorious opinionated Barker on the horn.

The writer/director had much to say about the upcoming remake of his most famous work, Hellraiser. Firstly, he commented on the addition of another writer/director, Pascal Laugier (nominated for a Cyber Horror Award for his work on Martyrs), who replaced Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury of Inside fame:

"I fuckin' love Martyrs... it's a movie that has courage and commitment. [Pascal] is someone who really, really cares about horror movies. I'm supposed to be seeing a treatment soon. I'm not certain, but I believe he is going to back to the first movie, but not with an obsessed loyalty. He's taking the first movie as a launching board, a rock model, but there are things you can obviously do now both visually and sexually... It's a different time, so I'm excited."

Conversely, when the topic switched to the controversial redesign of lead cenobite Pinhead that surfaced on the web a few days ago, Barker was a little less enthusiastic/complimentary:

"The whole point about Pinhead is that he is geometrically severe. Very measured, and the energy of the character comes out of the fact that you have surgical precision which is part of a much larger, sadistic, maybe masochistic, design. Turning the bloodless cuts or scarifications into bloody, irregular gashes removes the point of what made the character interesting in the first place."

Ironically, the new design was created by Gary Tunnicliffe, makeup artist for the sequels to the original Hellraiser.

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Repo! Sequel Still a Possibility?

Repo! The Genetic Opera has proven to be one of the most divisive genre films of recent years, with some flocking to it as a cult classic, and many others calling it one of the worst movies ever made. However you feel about it, there may be more of it on the horizon.

In an interview with Moviehole.net promoting the movie's DVD release, star Alexa Vega hinted that prequel/sequel talks are still alive despite the film's limited release and lackluster box office:

"[F]rom the very, very beginning, we always talked about a prequel or a sequel to this movie. And it’s hard, because as of right now, we all want to do it, but... it didn’t really do as we hoped. And we didn’t really have a lot of support. But we’re hoping that the fans will come back, and it will be an underground cult classic that will grow, and that will eventually spark us to do either the prequel or the sequel to this film.

"The story’s not yet finished. There’s so much left... to wonder. 'Okay, what happens to GeneCo?' Or, 'How did they get here?'... there’s so many questions that still need to be answered."

Director Darren Lynn Bousman's grassroots "Repo tour" has done a lot to drum up support for the flick, and indeed, a kind of "Rocky Horror" buzz has slowly built around it since its release last year, so a limited-release or direct-to-video sequel is certainly well within the realm of possibility.

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Leatherface Hanging Up the Chainsaw for Good?

After 35 years, a sequel, a prequel, and three different reboots, it could finally be the end of the road for the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise... at least for the foreseeable future.

Brad Fuller of Platinum Dunes (the company responsible for the last two TCM entries) told ShockTillYouDrop yesterday that there is no interest on either their part, or Warner Bros.' part, on making another one:

"I think the original rights owners now own those rights. I haven't heard anything for over a year now, but I think they want to go out and make their own Texas Chainsaw. While I used to always hope and pray that we could do another one, I don't feel that anymore."

Fuller and his partner Andrew Form go on to indicate that they want to distance themselves from the "torture porn" aspect of horror that TCM (at least their version of it) represents. With Friday the 13th hitting theaters next week, the Nightmare on Elm Street remake--set to start filming in 12 weeks--is next up for them.

Could this mean that the torture porn subgenre is finally petering out? In any event, we may have seen the last of everyone's favorite redneck cannibals. As for those "original rights owners" Fuller was referring to, I'm not sure if he's talking about Tobe Hooper, who formed the company Vortex Inc. in 1973 for the specific purpose of producing The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. A new TCM flick from Hooper himself would certainly be an item of interest.

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A heads-up to all you loyal Vault Dwellers: Look for my second Vaultcast tomorrow, when I plan to upload the phone interview I just conducted with Jim Krut, better known to you folks as Dawn of the Dead's "Helicopter Zombie"!

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Alex Proyas Talks Dracula

Not be outdone by his colleague the Wolf Man, yet another classic movie monster--namely the one and only Dracula--is set to return to the big screen as well, in a high-profile project announced last year called Dracula Year Zero.

On Wednesday, ShockTillYouDrop had a word with the film's director, Alex Proyas. Known for his excellent adaptation of The Crow, as well as his underrated cult fave Dark City, and yes, unfortunately, I Robot as well, Proyas should bring a unique vision to a script that supposedly merges Bram Stoker's fictional count with the historical Vlad Tepes upon which he was based. Presumably even moreso than Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), which also did this to a certain extent.

Here's some of what Proyas had to say:

"I'm not a fan of remakes or sequels - I haven't done any and I'm not really that excited by them usually.

"In the case of Dracula, the reason I got excited is I read a particular script that puts the whole legend on its head in every conceivable way and comes out with something that is both a kind of ode to Bram Stoker's original Dracula, in that it's kind of a prequel to that, but also redefines the character to such an extent that I found it quite exciting, so that is very much a reinvention of that character and it's why I got excited about it."

The script in question is by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, two untested commodities who also penned the screenplay for next year's remake of Flash Gordon--to be directed by Breck Eisner, the man also at the helm for the remakes of The Crazies and Creature from the Black Lagoon. How's that for random connections?

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Rosemary's Baby Remake Dead! The Birds Remake in Question!

Platinum Dunes head honchos Brad Fuller and Andrew Form dropped a bombshell today that's sure to please those, like myself, firmly planted in the anti-remake camp. During the press conference for the upcoming Platinum Dunes production The Unborn, Fuller & Form indicated firmly that the previously touted redo of Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby is no longer happening. Here's what they said over at Collider.com:

"We went down that road and we even talked to the best writers in town and it feels like it might not be do-able. We couldn’t’ come up with something where it felt like it was relevant and we could add something to it other than what it was so we’re now not going to be doing that film."

Score one for reason. Huzzah!

Furthermore, here's what the boys had to say about another frequently poo-pooed remake they've been attached to, that of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds:

"Martin [Campbell] has been working on the script and we’re expecting a script in the next 2-3 weeks, but... its not like Drew, Michael [Bay] and I think that we’re just going to crap all over Alfred Hitchcock’s movie. I mean, Alfred Hitchcock, in a company-wide opinion, is probably the greatest director of what we do, and other things too... Michael and I studied [him] in college, and there’s a reverence for him. So that’s not a movie that we’re just going to step up and just go have birds attacking people and trying to throw that into the box office. If we can’t make that movie unique or add something to it, I don’t think we’re going to make it."

Hmmm. Could it be that the glut of remakes is finally causing some to come to their senses and respect the sanctity of classics that shouldn't be remade? Well... let's not get carried away. But at least Rosemary's Baby is officially off. Spread the word.

Special thanks to fervent reader Gord for passing along this scoop!

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Will Smith on Future of I Am Legend Franchise

There's been a lot of speculation and rumors flying around lately as to whether there will be a follow-up to Will Smith's smash hit I Am Legend. Most recently, an unconfirmed rumor had it that a direct sequel was in the works. However, Smith himself recently spoke out at a press conference for his new movie Seven Pounds, and here's what he had to say on the matter:

"We have a fantastic prequel idea…we’re still trying to work through a couple of bumps in the story. It’s essentially the fall of the last city – the last stand of Manhattan. The movie would be…within the body of the movie D.C. and then Manhattan would fall as the last city. It’s a really cool idea trying to figure it out…there’s a reason why we have to take a small band and we have to get into D.C. So we have to make our way from New York to D.C. and then back to New York."

So it looks like it will, in fact, be a prequel, which, I have to admit, makes a lot more sense, and has a little more appeal to it. While I wasn't the biggest fan of the first one (I much prefer the Vincent Price version), I'm a bit intrigued at exploring territory that was previously only hinted at in Richard Matheson's novel and previous film incarnations.

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I'd also like to report that my interview with Victor Miller, screenwriter of the original Friday the 13th, went extremely well yesterday, and you can look forward to it in the very near future (most likely in blogcast form). Miller talks about everything from admittedly ripping off Halloween, the origin of the name Jason Voorhees, and Friday the 13th's indebtedness to Psycho, to his refusal to watch any of the sequels, his falling out with Sean Cunningham, and his thoughts on the upcoming remake. Very interesting stuff. Stay tuned.

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Clive Barker Trashes PG-13 Horror, Approves Remakes

Barker has been quite the opinionated little camper in the past year. First, he lashed out against torture porn, then rightfully spoke his mind regarding Lions Gate's treatment of his latest film, The Midnight Meat Train. And now, he's speaking his mind to MTV on some hot topics within the genre.

Firstly, he's made it quite clear that he's all for the upcoming remakes of his classic movies Hellraiser and Candyman, provided there's a good story to be told, and that something different and interesting will be done to make them worthwhile. He inferred that he'd rather see a quality remake than a sequel which does a shoddy job of adding to the franchise. A while back, he had officially given his blessing to the Hellraiser remake in particular, but the directors he had approved have since left the project.

Also, Barker made some strong remarks with regard to the recent trend of trimming down horror flicks in order to get a more audience-friendly PG-13 rating:

"It’s one of the most disgusting developments in the last few years; the whole notion of a PG-13 horror movie to me is a contradiction in terms. It’s like having a triple-X Disney picture. It doesn’t work... Wes [Craven] says that ‘When you go into a horror movie, you need to feel that you’re in the hands of a madman.’ Now what madman makes a PG-13 picture, right? Your horror-movie madman… doesn’t neaten up all the edges and make it all nice for mommy. [Studios] do it because they want to bring in younger audiences and make more money. But they don’t make better movies."

While I agree with Barker primarily, there has to be a distinction made here. In recent cases in which this phenomenon has occurred (such as Prom Night), you're talking about a situation in which studios have taken material that is clearly meant to be of an rated-R caliber and diluted its effectiveness by forcing it into a PG-13 pigeonhole. From a creative and artistic standpoint, that's clearly a disastrous development. However, that said, I don't agree that there can be no such thing as a great PG-13 rated horror movie. In fact, I think that's kind of ridiculous.

There certainly can be excellent horror movies rated PG-13 (and even milder!)--they're just different types of horror movies. Not the kind in which excessive body parts--both internal and external--are on plentiful display. But there are movies which can fully accomplish what they need to, and be effective, without exceeding the MPAA's guidelines for PG-13. For example, movies like The Others, The Ring, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Lady in White were all very good, and all rated PG-13. But to be clear, none of them were "trying to be R."

For that matter, what about every single great horror movie made before 1965, when filmmakers were unable to make movies of an R-rated type? Are we saying none of them are effective, none of them have the power to disturb us? Psycho would certainly be rated PG-13 if it were made today, maybe even PG--do we accuse Hitchcock of "neatening up the edges"? Granted, he didn't have the option of making his movie any more graphically violent, but would that really have made it any better than it is? Heck, Universal gems like Frankenstein and The Wolf Man would probably earn a G rating today. For my money, Nosferatu is a more powerful horror movie than many rated-R horror movies I've seen.

So I guess my point is, filmmakers should not be asked to reign in their vision in order to fit a PG-13 rating--but at the same time, we shouldn't broadly proclaim that it's impossible to make a PG-13 horror film that isn't well worth seeing.

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