Horror Movies 2010 – Guide

Horror Movies 2010 – Guide

7.12.09

It’s time to look at the potentially great horror movies of 2010. The line-up features the usual mix of sequels (Resident Evil: Afterlife), remakes (A Nightmare On Elm Street), sequels to remakes (Friday The 13th: Part 2), and original fare (Daybreakers). Japanese horror and torture porn have gone. Big name old school slashers are back in business, as are cheesy 80′s remakes, and 3-D. But overall the horror movie genre is still in flux, waiting for the next big trend.

So here’s Movie-Moron’s definitive guide to the best new horror movies, 2010:

- JANUARY -
Case 39
Release Date: pushed to 1 October 2010
Starring: Renée Zellweger, Ian McShane, Jodelle Ferland
Director: Christian Alvart

A social worker (Zellweger) takes in a troubled 10 year old after her parents try to kill her, only to discover the girl may not be an innocent as she seems. The movie has been sitting on the shelf for two years. Expect it to please no one.

Daybreakers
Release Date: 8 January 2010
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill
Directors: Peter and Michael Spierig

In 2017 a plague transforms most of the world into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the vampires farm the remaining humans and look for a new system to continue their existence. Meanwhile a secret team of vampires, including Ethan Hawke, uncovers a way to rescue the human race. While this is from the directors of the not-particularly-impressive Undead, Daybreakers does star three of the most underrated actors around and early reviews are very good.

Legion
Release Date: 22 January 2010
Starring: Paul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson
Director: Scott Stewart

And lo the battle between the angels and mankind will be decided at a truck stop diner. So said the Bible, somewhere. In the midst of a terrifying biblical apocalypse, a group of strangers unwittingly become humanity’s last line of defence when they discover the diner’s young waitress is pregnant with the messiah. Paul Bettany plays an angel who’s come down to give them an assist. Sounds like the Christian version of The Terminator, with Bettany in the Kyle Reese role. Dennis Quaid’s in there somewhere too with his magical touch of mediocrity.

- FEBRUARY -
Psych: 9
Date: 7 May 2010 (UK), TBA Late 2010 (US)
Starring: Sara Foster, Cary Elwes, Michael Biehn, Gabriel Mann
Director: Andrew Shortell

Whodunit horror-thriller about an unstable woman working alone in a recently closed hospital, while the ‘NightHawk’ serial killer embarks on a murder spree in the surrounding area. Cary Elwes plays a sympathetic doctor, Michael Biehn the investigator on the case. Elwes is always good value and why Biehn never became a Hollywood star is one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century

The Wolfman
Release Date: 12 February 2010
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Art Malik, Hugo Weaving
Director: Joe Johnston
Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker

The Wolfman got rid of its original director at the last minute (One Hour Photo’s excellent Mark Romanek) and replaced him with the bland Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park III). The fact that the release date has been pushed back so many times, and that it recently hired a new editor, is not a good sign at all. But it has a strong cast, a screenwriter capable of greatness, and make-up effects by the maestro Rick Baker, so hopefully it will surprise us. And it’s set in the 1880s, which is a brave choice.

The Crazies
Release Date: 26 February 2010
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell
Director: Breck Eisner

In this remake of George Romero’s 1973 chiller, a plane crash spills a biological weapon into the water supply of a small Kansas town, causing the inhabitants to turn murderously insane. Imagine a small town version of 28 Days Later. Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell are capable actors, but can the director of Sahara do horror?

After.LifeRelease Date: 9 April 2010
Starring: Liam Neeson, Christina Ricci, Justin Long
Director: Kevin Greutert

A woman (Ricci) wakes up to find she’s being prepared for burial, and has to fight to avoid being buried alive. But is she really dead after all? Neeson is the sinister funeral director. Good cast. Justin Long’s second horror movie in consecutive years after Drag Me To Hell, I thought he was a comedian now?

A Nightmare On Elm Street
Release Date: 30 April 2010
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara
Director: Samuel Bayer

The most anticipated/dreaded horror movie of the year. Platinum Dunes, the producers of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Friday The 13th remakes, have got rid of Robert Englund, but replaced him with serious acting talent in Jackie Earle Haley. The movie is going for scares over camp, a good move, but the trailer suggested a lack of imagination in the dream sequences. The make-up is likely to prove controversial as the new look Freddy looks a little too much like a real life burns victim.

George A. Romero’s Survival Of The Dead
Release Date: 30 April 2010
Starring: Alan Van Sprang, Kenneth Welsh, Devon Bostick
Director: George A. Romero

I want to be excited about this, but after Diary Of The Dead you can’t help feeling Romero’s diluting his own brand. Let’s hope this shows some of the re-invention that his recent zombie films have lacked. This one’s set on an island.

SpliceRelease Date: 4 June 2010
Starring: Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chaneac, David Hewlett
Director: Vincenzo Natali

Two geneticists combine human and animal DNA to create an entirely new being, which grows from deformity into a beautiful female. It bonds with its scientist-parents, Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, but then things turn deadly. From the director of Cube, this is produced by Guillermo del Toro.

- JULY -
Predators
Release Date: 9 July 2010
Starring: Adrien Brody, Topher Grace, Danny Trejo, Alice Braga
Director: Nimród Antal

Produced by Robert Rodriguez, based off his old spec script, Predators will star Adrien Brody as a lean mercenary. The R-rated movie is a direct sequel to the first film, as Aliens followed Alien. If Rodriguez lets him get near the camera, it’ll be helmed by Nimród Antal, who gave us Vacancy and the not-so-great Armored. The Predator will look as it did in the original film, but is joined by new creatures, such as Predator dogs and Predator falcons. Can’t wait for this.

- AUGUST -
Piranha 3D
Release Date: 20 August 2010
Starring: Elizabeth Shue, Richard Dreyfuss, Adam Scott, Ving Rhames, Christopher Lloyd
Director: Alexandre Aja

Every year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 for a single, wild weekend – the 4th of July, a riot of sun, drunken fun and sex-crazed mayhem. This year however, a tremor has caused the lake’s floor to open, setting free scores of prehistoric piranhas… Until he made Mirrors, director Alexandre Aja (Haute Tension, The Hills Have Eyes) was one of the most promising new voices in horror. I’m sure he can regain his mojo with this. The movie sounds like a blast. It’s in 3-D. And Christopher Lloyd’s in it playing a piranha expert.

The Last Exorcism
Release Date: 27 August 2010
Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Louis Herthum
Director: Daniel Stamm

Resident Evil: AfterlifeRelease Date: 10 September 2010
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Wentworth Miller, Ali Larter, Boris Kodjoe
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Inexplicably, the Resident Evil movie series continues to have a huge following and so it staggers on. What’s the plot this time? – Alice (Milla Jovovich) continues her battle with Umbrella, leading survivors to Los Angeles only to find it’s overrun with the undead. Yup, that’s it, no idea of any kind behind this one. The script for Resident Evil: Extinction was also lazy in the extreme, but at least they stuck it in the desert for a change of scenery. Paul W.S. Anderson returns to the director’s chair for the first time since the first movie. Oh it’s in 3-D. Please reboot this series and give it to another filmmaker.

Devil
Release Date: 17 September 2010
Starring: Geoffrey Arend, Chris Messina, Bojana Novakovic, Caroline Dhavernas
Directors: Drew Dowdle, John Erick Dowdle

- OCTOBER -

Let Me In
Release Date: 1 October 2010
Starring: Chloe Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Richard Jenkins, Elias Koteas
Director: Matt Reeves

Saw 3D: The Traps Come Alive

Release Date: 22 October 2010
Starring: Tobin Bell, Tanedra Howard, Costas Mandylor, Cary Elwes
Director: Kevin Greutert

As usual, nothing is known of the plot for Saw VII. What we do know is that there were 8 films planned, but this comes at a shakey time for the Saw series – Saw VI was the best reviewed movie since the first, but made only half the amount of the previous entry. So this could actually be the finale. Dr.Gordon (Cary Elwes) returns, as does Kevin Greutert, director of Saw VI. This time it’s in 3-D, so expect the traps to get in your face.

Paranormal Activity 2
Release Date: 22 October 2010
Starring: Katie Featherston
Director: Tod Williams

My Soul to Take
Release Date: October 29, 2010
Starring: Max Thieriot, Shareeka Epps, Denzel Whitaker, Frank Grillo
Director: Wes Craven

Good news, Wes Craven is directing a new slasher horror. Bad news, he wrote it. His writing has been shot full of problems since the original Nightmare On Elm Street. Let’s hope he’s on Scream directing form at least in this tale of a murderer who returns to his hometown to slash teens with the same birthday as the day he was supposedly put to rest