Remakes

Fresh off the news of Freddy being cast in the "Nightmare on Elm St." remake, comes news that Kyle Gallner is now in talks to sign on as "Quentin the podcaster". Gallner recently gave an impressive turn in "The Haunting in Connecticut", a film where I would honestly say he outshined Virginia Madsen, an Oscar nominee. So, this casting news is good to me.

"Fanboys" director Kyle Newman to step in to direct "War Monkeys", after the original director Kevin Munroe had to bow out due to "scheduling conflicts". "War Monkeys" is about two janitors who get stuck in a government research facility over Christmas holiday who have accidentally released war-trained Rhesus monkeys. Wackiness and (presumably) carnage ensues.

Bill Zane as a crazy bald magician? Sure thing. While I'm on the subject, whatever happened to his sister? Remember "Freddy's Dead"? I wonder where she's at these days.

Apparently when Harold Raimis says that the entire original cast will return for "Ghostbusters 3", that includes Rick Moranis. That of course means they can only start shooting once his latest direct to video sequel for "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" wraps up... but I think he'll make the time.

The writer of the "IT" remake speaks, and claims the picture is being written for a "Hard R". Sounds pretty awesome to me, although I'm not sure my brain is prepared for R-Rated scary clown action.

Fred Durst to direct horror film from the writer of "Se7en" and "The Wolfman". Yup, THAT Fred Durst. Guess he's taking a break from shitty music for a bit to make some shitty movies. Can't sneeze at that writer's cred though I guess. Then again... FRED DURST.

Bigfoot contracts rabies in "The Bloody Rage of Bigfoot". Isn't it amazing how sometimes the best ideas are the simplest?

Prepare for your mind to be blown. Universal has nabbed the rights to the comic book "The Strange Adventures of HP Lovecraft", and Ron Howard's producing. With Lovecraft's popularity surging in recent years thanks to the internet, I figured it was only a matter of time until he found his way into a mainstream movie, but Ron Howard? No director has been announced yet, but the speculation is that Howard will take it himself. Whoa.

Cameras roll next week on a remake of 1975's "The Land That Time Forgot", directed by C. Thomas Howell. I know it seems like I'm just pulling these names out of my ass today, but I swear I'm telling the truth!

Remember how the acclaimed Swedish vampire film "Let The Right One In" was just released on DVD? Thanks to some sleuthing over at Icons of Fright, it was discovered that the subtitles have been almost criminally changed from the original English subs on the Swedish DVD. The cumulative result, as the writer puts it, could be construed as a "dumbing down" or "watering down" of the subtlety and strange dark humor of the film. At the link, an exhaustive description of the changes including screen caps to illustrate the point.

Producers speak on both remakes of "The Birds" and "Poltergeist". They seem to have a healthy respect for the originals, so I'll at least give these a shot, even if neither one really needs a reboot.

Here's a naughty still from Lars Von Trier's "Antichrist", which is about to make its debut at Cannes. The psychological horror film stars Willem Dafoe and is about a couple who retreat to a cabin in the woods following the death of their child.

Now this is more like it, if you're interested, here's 20 hi-res stills from "Blood: The Last Vampire". Japanese school girls... that is all.