Top 10 Anticipated Horror Movies of 2016
1/24/2017, 09:37a.m.
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Horror movies are dime a dozen. They are mass produced because they bring in the big bucks, and for good reason. They are easy to produce and most bring back their profit within the first two weeks of premiering. Many respected actors/actresses and directors/writers began with horror with the “King of the Bs” Roger Corman and “Corman’s Kollege.” With so many coming out every year, though, it’s hard to look back and really appreciate and remember fondly those that stick out from the bottomless bin of Hollywood produce horror flicks.
Rather than simply listing run-out-of-the-mill horror movies due out this year (30, by my count, but I’m positive there’s more), I decided to take a look at the ones that I’m preparing myself for.
*Keep in mind these dates are subject to change. *
10.) The Other Side of the Door, March 11
When a family’s young son is taken away involving a tragic accident, a distressed mother learns of a ritual to bring him back to ONLY say a proper and final goodbye. But when she opens the very same door she is told not to open it because it acts as a gateway from this life to the next, she unleashes a force of unimaginable horror.
Now this movie on paper sounds like any other horror film. Even a bit like Pet Semetary in terms of the mysteries of what lie in the world beyond ours and how far we’ll go for our lost loved ones. Like many movies, there are some questionable acts committed by the characters. And if the door is not to be opened, you’d think there’d be a better lock than just a piece of wood across it. But the one thing that has me excited is the form of ritual she takes a part in. It’s reminiscent of Haitian voodoo that brings me back to Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow. It stars Jeremy Sisto (Suburgatory) and Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead).
9.) Before I Wake, April 8
When a family’s young son is taken away involving a tragic accident (sound familiar?) they turn to adoption to fill the void left by the anguished ordeal. The little boy seems nice, innocent enough, and well mannered. But this being a horror flick…all is not what it seems to be.
So far I see a connection between dead little children and their grieving parents. Thankfully, I believe these are the only two on the list. What sets this flick apart though from, let’s say, Orphan (2009), The Omen (1976), Mama (2013), or Case 39 (2009) is that, for once, the child is not at fault here. That is to say, he isn’t malicious, evil, or plain out the son of the devil. No instead here, it would appear as if he is a tortured soul by never wanting to go to sleep (nostalgia alert!) because…wait for it: his dreams come true! And looking to the previews it looks quite beautiful actually. Alluring images with rich vibrant colors fill the darken tone of the atmosphere.
Looks like something taken out of Guillermo del Toro’s playbook. The big question here though, is if his dreams come true and are beautiful… how are his nightmares? It stars Thomas Jane (The Mist), Kate Bosworth (Superman Return), Annabeth Gish (The X-Files).
8.) 31, January 23 (Sundance Premiere later date: TBA)
A group of five carnival workers are kidnapped and forced to survive a violent 12-hour game where the main goal is to outlast a violent gang of clowns.
Rob Zombie returns to the director’s chair to bring us another bat-out-of-hell rumpus of a movie. Out of all his films he’s written and directed, one only really stands out to me – The Devil’s Rejects – and ironically isn’t that much of a horror movie, but nevertheless an amazing sophomoric debut. 31 has the potential to scare hundreds simply by the image plastered all over the poster – a clown. While I have no fear of clowns (cockroaches are my kryptonite), I’m hoping this isn’t a cheap shot of a story to mix in the Saw series with a touch of Killer Klowns From Outer Space, minus the comedy. Either way, we’re promised extreme gratuitous violence with a side of blood. I’m in!
7.) The Bye Bye Man, October 14
In late 1990s Wisconsin area, three college friends are haunted by an entity called The Bye Bye Man.
That’s the synopsis. Right there – up there. And based on the synopsis right there – up there – would you go watch it? Without a single notion of having more information, or a trailer to go by, or production stills to see what it might be about? Well, allow me to expand on it and give you my reasons as to why I’m excited about it. First off, it’s based off a short story entitled “The Bridge to Body Island” from Robert Damon Schneck’s The President’s Vampire, which is absolutely creepy.
The story goes that three friends decide to mess with a Ouija board and encounter quite a few number of spirits. After weeks of speaking to them they become bored until one of the spirits mentions The Bye Bye Man. The story then focuses on explaining the phenomena that follows from a scientific and spiritual sense, but Hollywood will only focus on the spooky tale. Secondly, Doug Jones (from almost everything Guillermo Del Toro has done) is playing the titular character. And finally, the description of the entity is as follows: an almost blind, telepathic, tall man with long hair and albinism disease, which causes a lack of pigmentation in the eyes, hair, and skin. He wears black-painted sunglasses, a wide brimmed hat that covers his face, and a pea-colored coat. With a “sack of gore” where he keeps his victim’s organs, and a side companion made up of tongues and eyeballs named Gloomsinger that whistled to him when he found his next victim? What’s even more terrifying? It’s supposed to be based on a true story and whether it is or isn’t… Yes, please!
6.) Good Tidings, December 25
A homeless veteran must rely on his dark side that he thought was buried and gone when him and his friends are targeted by three psychopaths dressed in Santa Claus outfits.
I enjoy mashups of horror and Christmas movies immensely. Last year we got Krampus, which was surprisingly awesome (IMO) and this one seems like it could surpass expectations. The marketing trailer isn’t great, as it seems like it can be a direct-to-video movie (which it could be for all I know), but the electronic synthesizer has John Carpenter written all over it. The story itself is (1989) Intruder-esque. And the violence, is everything a horror movie is made up to be.
5.) Yoga Hosers, January 24 (Sundance Premiere later date: TBA)
Two teenage, yoga-enthusiast girls team up with monster-hunting legend Guy LaPointe in order to stop a rising ancient evil that threatens their party plans.
If you’ve kept up with any news relating to this movie, you’ll realize that it sounds pretty dumb on and off paper. However, it does have some redeeming qualities. For starters, it is written and directed by Kevin Smith who is an indie God in many eyes, so you either hate him or love him. The last couple of years he’s done films that hadn’t fit his repertoire and that’s A-Okay. This is a comedy/horror at it’s core and it stars Johnny Depp, Haley Joel Osment, Justin Long, Tony Hale, Adam Brody, and Smith and Depp’s own daughters Harley Quinn Smith and Lily Rose Melody Depp, respectively. And seeing Kevin Smith dressed up as a Nazi sausage is all the fun stupidity I need.
4.) Cell, February 26 (Glasgow Film Festival later date: TBA)
In one beautiful particular day, the world is thrown into a chaotic mess as cell phone signals cause people to turn into mindless killing machines. A New England artist is determined to find his way back home to his son.
Based off the same titled novel by Stephen King, this is a clear nod to Romero’s zombie films. If anyone can write a good horror story, its Mr. King but, unfortunately, most of his adapted work don’t transition well into film. With only a handful I can personally count, this one seems promising as it is reuniting John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson from 1408. A very decent adaptation indeed and with all the zombie craze the world is in at the moment, this one should be one of the better adaptations we can count a part of as well.
3.) Lights Out, July 22
A woman is terrorized by a creature who only appears in darkness.
That’s it. Simple and easy, and sometimes that’s all you need in a horror film. This one comes in the form of an adapted short of the same name from the same person. It’s only a two-and-a-half-minute video up on YouTube but you can definitely see why it garnered all the awards and attention it so rightly deserves. The suspense is palpable, the music is eerie, and the effects are superb. The real challenge here is whether writer/director David F. Samberg can transition the story from two and a half minutes to feature length without losing any aspect of what made this short truly scary. Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies) stars.
2.) The Witch, February 19
When a family’s young son is taken away (DAMN IT! Almost made it through the list), BUT…perhaps not dead, the family’s daughter is accused of witchcraft and the family is torn apart from the evil forces of possession, witchcraft, and black magic. All this makes more sense when you realize it takes place in the 17th century.
All right, so this movie was completed in 2015 but barely getting its release date this year. And off the bat it reminds me of a little flick titled The Crucible, which I hated because of my high school English class. The witchcraft aspect is as far as it goes with the connection because this movie feels different. Certain images already shown in the trailer might seem as if they’ll be hard to watch in it’s full effect and glory but, hey, isn’t that what horror is? To push our boundaries of safety and comfort?
1. The Conjuring 2, June 10
Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to England to help a single mother and her four children as they are tormented by malicious spirits.
One of the most consistent directors working in the horror field right now is James Wan. He has crafted some of the best haunted house movies based off of PG-13 rating and showed what he could do with an R-rating. With The Conjuring, when asked what he could cut to receive a PG-13 rating, they said nothing. It is just that scary. And now, when offered “life-changing money” to direct the next installment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, he actually turned it down to direct this sequel.
We are treated with blink-or-you’ll-miss-it scenes, tensed-up moments, and horns and strings accompany the music, which is so deliciously horror, and we finally get James Wan’s stamp of direction, so this is a can’t miss.