Welcome to Horror Happenings! We have lots of fun news for you in both film and television, including updates on The Omen sequel series Damien release date for Ouija 2 and the documentary everyone is talking about, The Nightmare, from Room 237 director Rodney Ascher. Let’s get to it!
Damien Moving from Lifetime to A&E, Episode Order Expanded to Ten
Originally slated for six episodes to air on Lifetime, Damien, The Omen sequel series from former The Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazarra, will move to A&E. Additionally, the episode order has almost doubled, being increased to ten episodes. While A&E’s other genre drama series based on a famous horror film, Bates Motel, hasn’t officially been renewed for a fourth season, it is believed that it will be coming back in 2016 and paired with Damien. It’s even more of a show of confidence for the upcoming show as Damien was ordered straight-to-series almost one year ago to the day.
Ouija 2 Gets a Release Date
Confession time, Horror Happenings, friends:Â I still don’t ALL CAPS HATE Ouija. Is it great or even mostly good? No, certainly not. Is it the worst movie ever made? No, certainly not. Critics loathed the Stiles White directed feature adaptation of the infamous board game but audiences totally went to see it (Ouija made $100M, y’all!!!) so naturally we’re getting another one.
Ouija 2 is due out October 21, 2016 but even more intriguing is that Oculus screenwriters Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard have written the screenplay. While Oculus was also not my favorite, it certainly was ambitious and writer/director Flanagan certainly had a vision for what he wanted to accomplish. Here’s hoping that Ouija 2 at the very least takes some risks as opposed to playing it safe? “Hoping” being the key word here… No word yet on who will direct the second movie but we’ll keep you posted as announcements are made.
The Nightmare Documentary Trailer Hits the Web
This one hits close to home because, believe it or not, I suffer from sleep paralysis. It happens to me once every couple of months and, when I experience it, it’s the feeling of waking up in the middle of the night and knowing that I’m awake and feeling like there is something very, very dangerous there with me. I can’t move and I can’t speak or scream but I keep fighting with my mind to will my body and my voice to tell whatever presence is there to “stop” or to say “no” to the force that feels like it’s holding me down. Eventually, of course, I am able to wake up. This phenomenon has been going on for centuries with sleep paralysis being identified as “demon on the chest,” “night hag” or an incubus in folklore. Fortunately for me, I have never actually seen or heard my own personal “intruder,” only felt it. That is not the case for the people who have been featured in the documentary The Nightmare from Room 237 filmmaker Rodney Ascher.
The Nightmare has been winning very strong reviews since its festival premiere at Sundance back in January and now the first trailer for the documentary has come online. Check out the trailer below if you’re ready for your nightmares to come alive!
The Nightmare hits select theaters and VOD on June 5, 2015.
