Greetings to you, horror friends! This week saw some very interesting horror news on TV and in film, so let’s get right to our favorite Horror Happenings.
The CW Officially Goes To Series on Joe Hill’s Tales From the Darkside Reboot
Last summer at San Diego Comic-Con, I sat down with beloved horror novelist Joe Hill in anticipation of Alex Aja’s feature adaptation of his novel Horns. While we were talking, he mentioned to me that his reimagining of the popular 80’s anthology series Tales From the Darkside would be premiering next year. Hill wrote the pilot script and will serve as executive producer. Now, the trades are reporting that The CW’s Darkside has officially been given a series order. For more from Hill on the project, including what kind of anthology the new series will be, check out my interview with him!
Nicolas Winding-Refn’s The Neon Demon Adds Keanu Reeves and Christina Hendricks to Cast
It would appear that Keanu Reeves has been bitten by the horror bug. After teaming up with Eli Roth for the cautionary tale Knock Knock which premiered and sold at Sundance last month, Reeves has signed up to step back into the genre this time with Drive director Nicolas Winding-Refn on his latest The Neon Demon. As a self-professed fan of the genre, Refn had been circling a horror project for a while, first looking to direct The Bringing for Sony. When negotiations ultimately fell through, Refn set his sights on The Neon Demon.
Described as a “subversive female-driven horror tale,” Reeves and Hendricks join Elle Fanning, Jenna Malone, Abbey Lee and Bella Heathcote with Variety reporting that production is slated to begin on March 30 of this year.
Kevin Smith Leads Directors of Upcoming Holidays Anthology
In pretty crazy and exciting news, the feature anthology film Holidays has announced an impressive slate of directors including Kevin Smith, Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch (Starry Eyes), Nicholas McCarthy (The Pact, At The Devil’s Door), Gary Shore (Dracula Untold), Sarah Smith (The Midnight Swim) and more.
The film is described by Deadline as a “group of subversive tales fashioned around globally recognized celebrations like Christmas, Easter, Halloween and Mother’s Day, the vignettes will be helmed by indie and genre filmmakers.” The complete slate of directors has not been announced and others are expected to join the production in the next few weeks and there is no word yet on which director will take on which holiday. Holidays joins the likes of Tales of Halloween and Krampus as already announced spooky takes on beloved holidays like Halloween and Christmas, respectively. There is no word yet on when the film will be released.
While anthology features are hot right now, I’m still not tired of the trend. I’m also excited to see new horror voices like Widmyer and Kolsch as well as Nicholas McCarthy put their all into a really slick short film. Can we add The Babadook‘s Jennifer Kent to the bill next?
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What say you, horror fans? Lots of anthology news this week with no signs of slowing down. Are you tiring of the format or are you excited to see more from your favorite genre voices all in one place? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!
