FILM HORROR yang tayang tahun 2011,, (Recomended)

- JANUARY -
Season Of The Witch
Release Date: 7 January 2011 (U.S.)
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Stephen Graham, Christopher Lee
Director: Dominic Sena
Not the long awaited remake of Halloween III, this period horror sees Nicolas Cage as a medieval knight who agrees to transport a devious witch to an abbey where her powers can be destroyed. Even though he’s playing a Crusader, Cage is sporting an American accent. Expect more of such silliness from director-of-the-ridiculous Dominic Sena (Swordfish, Gone In 60 Seconds). The movie does has an old-school Hammer Horror vibe which could lead to unintentional laughs but at least it feels kinda fresh thanks to its unusual concept.


The Rite
Release Date: 28 January 2011
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Toby Jones, Alice Braga, Rutger Hauer
Director: Mikael Håfström

A young American priest enrols at the Vatican’s exorcist school but has his doubts so is put in the care of Anthony Hopkins. The two go on a series of exorcism adventures, that will no doubt involve scenes copied from other exorcist movies. Hopkins has been on low-effort cruise control for years. The director helmed the excellent 1408, but advance word on The Rite is poor.



- FEBRUARY -
The Roommate
Release Date: 4 February 2011
Starring: Leighton Meester, Minka Kelly, Cam Gigandet
Director: Christian E. Christiansen
Sara (Kelly) is a college student randomly assigned to a freshman dorm with a stranger named Rebecca (Meester). They start off as friends but things turn deadly as Rebecca becomes obsessed with Sara and begins to target people in her life. So this is basically a remake of Single White Female, with less edge. The director has no real experience in the thriller/horror genre. Has bland written all over it.


Black Death
Release Date: 4 February 2011 (video on demand)
Starring: Sean Bean, Kimberley Nixon, Carice van Houten, Eddie Redmayne, John Lynch
Director: Christopher Smith

Journey to an apocalyptic medieval world during the first outbreak of the bubonic plague. A band of brothers are on a quest to hunt down a necromancer, rumoured to have made a pact with the forces of darkness and raised the dead in a small village. From the British director of Creep and Severance. Black Death has already been released in the UK where critics gave it an impressive 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, calling it a well-acted, twisty Gothic horror, with grisliness that’s a tad too over the top.



The Resident
Release Date: 18 February 2011
Starrring: Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee
Director: Antti Jokinen (his first movie)

Hammer’s first film for over 30 years stars Hilary Swank, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Hammer veteran Christopher Lee. Swank plays a doctor who moves to a, er, swanky apartment in Brooklyn only to slowly realise that the landlord (Morgan) is developing a dangerous obsession with her. A terrifying game of cat and mouse ensues as she fights to free herself from his sinister intentions. The plot doesn’t read like a Hammer Horror movie at all. It’s clearly just a brand name that was bought by the highest bidder.


Vanishing On 7th Street (RECOMENDED)
Release Date: 18 February 2011
Starring: Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo
Director: Brad Anderson

A massive power outage plunges Detroit into darkness, and almost the entire population vanishes into thin air. A small group of survivors gather in an abandoned tavern, where they realise the darkness itself is out to get them and only the diminishing light sources can keep them safe. Director Brad Anderson (Session 9, The Machinist, Transsiberian) makes thoughtful, suspenseful horror/thrillers. He’s the reason to be excited about this. Except advance buzz, again, isn’t very good.


- MARCH -
Red Riding Hood
Release Date: 11 March 2011
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Gary Oldman, Max Irons, Julie Christie, Virginia Madsen
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Gothic retelling of the Red Riding Hood fable, set in a village haunted by a werewolf, with a teenage love triangle at its centre. Valerie, the girl with the Red Riding Hood, seeks the assistance of a hunter to fight the creature. Anything with Gary Oldman and a werewolf is worthy of attention. The story of the wolf-disguised-as-grandmother was published by the Brothers Grimm in the 19th century, but earlier versions from the Middle Ages were darker and sometimes featured a werewolf instead/Riding Hood being eaten. This all sounds intriguing, but is the director of the poorly-shot Twilight really up to the job? David Leslie Johnson (Orphan) wrote the script.

- APRIL -
Insidious
Release Date: 1 April 2011
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Bryne, Lin Shaye, Ty Simpkin, Barbara Hershey
Director: James Wan
The partnership that created Saw, James Wan and Leigh Whannell, tackle the haunted house movie, attempting to “twist it on its head”. The story sees a family discovering that the body of their comatose boy has become a magnet for malevolent entities. Now they must race to prevent his consciousness being trapped in the dark and insidious realm known as “The Further”. So instead of haunted house, think haunted boy. It’s in the same territory as 1982′s Poltergeist, complete with psychics and parents entering the ‘spirit world’ to rescue their child. The creative team, paired with the producers of Paranormal Activity, are talented, so expect some good frights.


Mother’s Day
Release Date: 1 April 2011
Starring: Jamie King, Rebecca De Mornay, Patrick Flueger, Briana Evigan, Shawn Ashmore
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman

Remake of the 1980 Troma ‘cult classic’, Mother’s Day sees a sadist family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new home owners and their guests. Jamie King and Rebecca De Mornay play the mothers of each family. Director Darren Lynn Bousman brought us Saw II – IV and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Early reviews for this psychological horror-thriller haven’t been great.


Scream 4
Release Date: 15 April 2011
Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts
Director: Wes Craven

Scream transformed the horror landscape when it came out in ’96, kicking off the second slasher cycle (the first was after Halloween) and bringing a truly unique tone to the genre. Brilliantly directed as it was, it was Kevin Williamson’s script that really was a cut above. Scream 2 was largely a success too. Then the studio stupidly booted Williamson for the third instalment and the result was something like a Scooby Doo episode. We’re excited about Scream 4 because Williamson is back, and there are 10 years of horror movies (from Asian ghost movies to torture porn) to riff off, in that clever but still frightening way. It’s going to be interesting to see how the clearly-too-old-to-be-doing-this cast (Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox) is melded with the new generation (Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere etc). Will they kill off Sidney Prescott?


John Carpenter’s The Ward
Release Date: 15 April 2011
Starring: Amber Heard, Lyndsy Fonseca, Jared Harris, Danielle Panabaker
Director: John Carpenter

A woman with amnesia (Heard) is admitted to a psychiatric ward, where she meets other equally disturbed young woman. When they start to be murdered by a mysterious spectre at night, she realises she must find a way out of the ward before it’s too late. John Carpenter created classic after classic early in his career but the last 25 years have been very patchy. In fact, this is his first movie since Ghosts Of Mars in 2001. Every horror fan hopes he’s back on form, because if he is there’s no one better. But the trend says he won’t be.



- MAY -
Priest
Release Date: 13 May 2011
Starring: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban, Christopher Plummer
Director: Scott Charles Stewart
3D action-horror adaptation of the TokyoPop comic book, about a warrior priest in a world ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampire, who turns against the church to track down the murderous band of vampires who kidnapped his niece. Produced by Sam Raimi, it’s been described as a “vampire western”. Priest is not to be confused with Legion, which also starred Paul Bettany as an ass-kicking man of God, even though it’s directed by the same guy.

  - AUGUST -
Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark
Release Date: 12 August 2011
Starring: Bailee Madison, Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes
Director: Troy Nixey (first timer, Guillermo del Toro ‘protege’)
It’s a conventional horror premise – young girl sent to live with her father (Pearce), and new girlfriend, discovers creatures in the home who want to claim her as one of their own. But the presence of Guillermo del Toro as hands-on co-writer/co-producer should elevate this to something genuinely unnerving. The filmmakers were going for a PG-13 but got rated R for ‘pervasive scariness.’ It’s a remake of a 1973 made-for-TV film that few will remember. Good to see Guy Pearce getting some mainstream work again.


Fright Night
Release Date: 7 October 2011
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Toni Collette
Director: Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl)

Star Trek’s Anton Yelchin is Charley Brewster, the young man trying to convince everyone that a murderous vampire (Colin Farrell) has moved in next door. He turns to gothic TV celebrity Peter Vincent (David Tennant) only to find he’s not the tough vampire hunter he portrays. Christopher Mintz-Plasse is Charley’s best friend ‘Evil’ Ed, and Toni Collette plays the mum. The 80s original was an enjoyable, well written comedy horror. This has upped the stakes with a near perfect cast of fun actors.


5inal Destination (Final Destination 5 3D)
Release Date: 26 August 2011
Starring: Emma Bell, David Koechner, Tony Todd, Courtney B. Vance, Miles Fisher
Director: Steven Quale

‘The Final Destination’ (4) was given a huge boost by the addition of 3D, resulting in a $186m worldwide theatrical gross from its $40m production budget. So the producers’ grand design is to run this idea into the ground, even though the story ran out in the first movie. In this 5th episode, one man’s premonition saves a group of co-workers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But the group were never supposed to survive, and the Grim Reaper is working overtime, nudging over paint cans etc, to finish them off. Can they find a way to escape the pre-determined pattern of their demise? Don’t expect anything new here, the series has become more of a roller coaster ride than a movie. Some say the title looks like Anal Destination.

  - SEPTEMBER - Shark Night 3D
Release Date: 2 September 2011
Starring: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Katharine McPhee
Director: David R. Ellis (Snakes On A Plane)
 

 











- OCTOBER -
The Thing
Release Date: 14 October 2011
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Eric Christian Olsen
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 classic. There’s still so much mileage in this concept (if they are smart filmmakers), the setting and idea haven’t really been revisited by other movies since, and seeing my favourite horror movie ‘prequelised’ decades later has a big curiosity appeal. But the prequel has already dropped the ball on two unconventional, but key, elements that helped make the original so unique – the all male cast has gone (the lead is now a hot female who’s helicoptered in), and the large cast of 12 mostly older character-actors has been replaced by the conventional 7 younger characters. It’s asking a lot, but if The Thing prequel turns out to be the smart, well written whodunit mystery it should be, and it stays away from cgi for its creature fx, this could be something special.
 

Red State
Release Date: 19 October 2011
Starring: Michael Parks, Kyle Gallner, Melissa Leo, John Goodman, Kevin Pollak
Director: Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is making a horror movie. It’s about a group of kids encountering a crazed preacher who practices extreme fundamentalism in Middle America. Michael Parks (Kill Bill Volume 2) plays the preacher, who’s loosely based on Fred Phelps, founder of the Westboro Baptist Church. Phelps had followers out protesting Comic Con this year. Cop Out showed even a slight step away from Smith’s comfort zone can be disastrous. Can he handle suspense/horror? I doubt it. Likely to be controversial though.


Paranormal Activity 3
Release Date: 21 October 2011
Starring: Katie Featherston
Director: Tod Williams (Paranormal Activity 2)

Dibbuk Box
Release Date: 28 October 2011
Starring: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick , Grant Show
Director: Ole Bornedal (Nightwatch)

  - NOVEMBER -
11-11-11
Release Date: 11 November 2011
Starring: n/a
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
This is one release date they can’t afford to miss, because the release date is the movie. 11 11 11 is a ‘sinister number’ movie, similar to The Number 23, with shades of Knowing. It’s a dark interpretation of the held-by-a-handful-of-people-belief that on 11:11 on the 11th day of the 11th month, the 11th gate of Heaven (there are 11) will open up and something from another world will enter the earthly realm for 49 minutes. Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, who did underrated work on Saws II – IV.


The Factory
Release Date: 19 December 2011
Starring: John Cusack, Jennifer Carpenter, Dallas Roberts, Mae Whitman
Director: Morgan O’Neill
John Cusack plays a rugged cop on the trail of a serial killer targeting young streetwalkers. When his own daughter is kidnapped by the killer he drops all professional restraint to get her back. This is a Joel Silver / Dark Castle production directed by a winner of the Australian Project Greenlight. The release date has been pushed back almost 2 years, which is a very bad sign. And it seems to have been a troubled set too, with the screenwriter complaining on radio that “[Cusack] was getting paid a lot of cash and he would be two hours late to set, wouldn’t apologise for keeping everyone waiting in the snow. …It was a really nice day when he wrapped.”

  = WAITING FOR A RELEASE DATE IN 2011 =
The Woman In Black
Release Date: TBC 2011
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciarán Hinds, Janet McTeer
Director: James Watkins (Eden Lake)

So my favourite play, and TV movie, is being turned into a theatrical movie. And from the pictures so far, they’ve nailed the look of it. Daniel ‘Potter’ Radcliffe plays a lawyer who is ordered to travel to a remote village and sort out a recently deceased client’s papers. As he works alone in the client’s isolated house, he begins to uncover tragic secrets, and glimpse a freaky mysterious woman dressed only in black. Radcliffe’s well suited to this role. Jane Goldman (Kick-Ass, Stardust) adapted the ’83 novel. Can’t wait.

 COMING SOON

The Innkeepers
Release Date: TBC 2011
Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis, George Riddle
Director: Ti West

The Innkeepers is about the last two employees of a supposedly haunted hotel which is about to go bankrupt after a hundred years in business. As the final days tick down, mysterious guests check in, including a former TV actress turned psychic (Kelly McGillis) and an old man insistent on staying in room 353. As several strange occurrences begin to add up, the two employees must decided whether or not to believe. Director Ti West’s previous horror The House of the Devil became something of a cult hit. He says this will be “scarier”, with more jokes, and more mainstream. Hopefully he’ll continue to put atmosphere before quick edits and jump scares.


The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence)
Release Date: TBC 2011
Director: Tom Six

The Human Centipede has become infamous, one of those “omg have you seen?” shock-value movies. The YouTube trailer has been watched 4.6 million times, a huge number for a low budget horror. Therefore last spring’s self-proclaimed ‘sickest movie ever made’ is getting a sequel, with, one assumes, an even longer chain of characters sewn together by their digestive systems, ass to mouth, and a doctor even more perverse than the first. See this if you want to know what the fuss is about. Then regret it. It’s the horror equivalent of Two Girls One Cup, in a more literal way than you’d imagine.


The Collection
Release Date: TBC 2011
Starring: Josh Stewart
Director: Marcus Dunstan

2009′s The Collector gets a sequel, even though it didn’t do great box office. There wasn’t much explanation as to why the serial killer The Collector booby-trapped houses, or collected, but this time expect to delve somewhat into the back story. We’re going to The Collector’s own booby-trapped hideout since Arkin, the protagonist from the first movie, is blackmailed into finding it, and the kidnapped woman inside, by her wealthy father. The movie’s in 3D. This is worth watching if you’re missing Jigsaw, not least because the first Collector script was considered as a prequel to Saw, and the writer/director penned Saws 4 – 7.


Knights Of Badassdom
Release Date: TBC 2011
Starring: Summer Glau, Peter Dinklage, Steve Zahn, Danny Pudi, Ryan Kwanten
Director: Joe Lynch

This is my favourite synopsis of any movie this year – ‘Live-action role players conjure up a demon from hell by mistake and must deal with the consequences.’ This comedy-horror has a fun cast; Summer Glau (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Peter Dinklage (excellent actor who happens to be a dwarf), Steve Zahn (A Perfect Getaway) and Danny Pudi (Community). Great title too. Shame it’s directed by Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2).


Apollo 18
Release Date: Pushed to 6 January 2012
Starring: n/a
Director: Gonzalo López-Gallego

What if the Apollo missions to the moon hadn’t stopped at 17? The real Apollo 18 was cancelled by NASA in the 70s, but this supposes it secretly went ahead and found alien life. The movie will made up of found footage purported to have been shot by the crew of the shuttle. Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) produces, and it’s directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego, a Spanish director new to Hollywood. Made quickly and for little money it’s proved controversial in Hollywood since it has an identical premise to a much bigger movie, Dark Moon, that is slowly being developed for release in 2013.


The Apparition
Release Date: Pushed to TBC 2012
Starring: Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton, Luke Pasqualino, Julianna Guill
Director: Todd Lincoln (his first movie)

Haunted house tale ‘based on true events’, about a grad student (with a secret) and his girlfriend being terrorised by a supernatural presence unleashed during a college experiment. It’s set in a cul-de-sac in the Valley, in an area where a lot of houses didn’t ever get finished, so the couple are alone in a yet-to-be-formed neighbourhood. Twilight’s Ashley Greene stars with Gossip Girl’s Sebastian Stan and Harry Potter’s Tom ‘Draco’ Felton. Producer Joel Silver (House Of Wax, Gothika) says the movie was influenced by Paranormal Activity. Influenced by its box office more like.