Call this the most promising edition of Horror Happenings in a long time. This week news broke that two distinct filmmaking duos are taking on exciting new projects. From true crime horror to a follow up to one of my favorites, let’s get to it!
American Psycho‘s Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner Reteaming for Manson Movie
I happen to be a big fan of Mary Harron’s extra dark comedy American Psycho. The film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel has gone onto cult status and features an outstanding lead performance from now-megastar Christian Bale. While many people didn’t (and still don’t) quite see the strong satirical undercurrent running through the film, the movie was never a huge hit but has gone on to inspire numerous pop culture references—from memes to a musical on the London stage starring none other than Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith. And, as far as women in horror go, Harron and Turner—while not known exclusively as genre talent—are two names that people often wish would do more within the horror space. It looks like now we might have gotten our wish.
This week it was announced that the pair would take on The Family, as Deadline puts it, “an examination of the infamous Manson Family murders through the eyes of graduate student Karlene Faith as she works with three young, brainwashed women who were part of the cult.” The publication goes on to say that the screenplay is based on two non-fiction works, Karlene Faith’s The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond The Cult, and Ed Sanders’ infamous account of the Manson killings titled The Family. Harron’s The Family joins the NBC series Aquarius starring David Duchovny—returning for season two this year—and Annabelle director John Leonetti’s horror/thriller inspired by Manson, The Wolves at the Door, in the annals of Manson-related media expected to bow in the next several months.
HT: Deadline
Starry Eyes Team Will Direct Mama 2 for Universal
In 2014, Horror Happenings and Nerdist did our best to tell you about a little indie horror movie called Starry Eyes. Written and directed by Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch, Starry Eyes was often seen battling it out alongside Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook for the best horror movie of the year honors on pretty much every critic’s list. While Widmyer and Kolsch have since directed a segment for the upcoming Holidays horror anthology film—and become attached to Lionsgate’s Exorcism Diaries—Mama 2 would be their biggest project to date. While not much is known about the proposed follow up, The Wrap is reporting that Jessica Chastain is not expected to return, and Mama patriarch Guillermo del Toro tweeted his admiration for the directors and their work, but announced that he would not be returning to produce either.
Still, by seeing what Widmyer and Kolsch were able to do on such a limited budget with a movie like Starry Eyes (which is streaming on Netflix—hint, hint), I have no doubt that they will be able to do something great with the material. I am a big fan of the first movie and absolutely believe that there’s a large universe to explore with new stories to be told. There’s no release date or casting announcements available yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
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Featured Image Credit: DeviantArtist omupied
Clarke Wolfe writes Horror Happenings for Nerdist every Sunday. You can follow her on Twitter @clarkewolfe.
