EDITORIALS

FS.net's Guide To The Summer of 2007's Horror Movies

by Alex Billington
May 20, 2007

For those of you that just can't wait until October when the horror season really kicks back into full swing, here's a guide to this summer's horror and thriller movies. We all know the movie studios push out their biggest blockbusters during the summer months, so we can hope that most of these will end up being good. Maybe they'll just become big money-makers, which is what all the studios want, but either way we'll look at the line up this summer and help you choose what to or what not to see.

Starting with William Friedkin's Bug this weekend and ending with Rob Zombie's Halloween remake on August 31st, there are a total of 10 big horror movies to watch for. Let's begin, shall we?

Bug
Release Date: May 25
Watch The Trailer
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Harry Connick Jr.
What It's About: Based on the prize winning play by Tracy Letts, Bug explores the boundary between paraonia and reality as a woman holed up in a seedy motel room (in hiding from her abusive ex-husband) falls in love with a stranger willing to protect her. Their relationship quickly spirals out of control when they begin to find bugs inside their skin.
The Buzz: The latest "horror" film from The Exorcist director William Friedkin, or so they claim in their marketing tactics to sell it. The film is really a character piece about two people but the trailers make it out to be one heck of a thrilling and twisted ride, which it is. It's been making the festival circuit all last year and they're promoting this one like crazy, but that doesn't necessarily mean it'll be good.
Worth Seeing? No, it's not really a horror movie, but a lengthy and sometimes boring character drama.

Hostel: Part II
Release Date: June 8
Watch The Trailer
Director: Eli Roth
Starring: Jay Hernandez, Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo, Bijou Phillips, Vera Jordanova
What It's About: The sequel focuses on three girls who are studying in Italy for the summer and they get lured back to a lot of familiar places. It turns out that the Slovakian stopover is actually part of a chain and you'll see the ins and outs of the whole organization and how they get people and kill them. Hostel 2 starts immediately where the first film left off.
The Buzz: Although not everyone likes director Eli Roth, this sequel is supposed to be gorier, uglier, and nastier than the first one, with females as the main characters who get tortured this time instead of guys. Will it live up to expectations or just be an overly gory film with nothing redeeming, which seems to be the trend with horror films these days. We have yet to see, but I've got high hopes for Eli Roth.
Worth Seeing? Yes, if you can't wait to feast your eyes on more gore than ever before seen.

Fido
Release Date: June 15
Watch The Trailer
Director: Andrew Currie
Starring: Carrie Anne Moss, Billy Connolly, Tim Blake Nelson, Dylan Baker
What It's About: Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family.
The Buzz: I had to consider whether this fit on here, but remembering that it is a zombie movie with plenty of killing, it does fall into the category of horror. One of my favorite films of Sundance and a refreshing look at the zombie universe through comedy and pure entertainment, Fido is one of the better horror movies this summer. It's had stunning reviews from every film festival so far, let's see if it can live up to those high regards this summer in theaters.
Worth Seeing? DEFINITELY yes! One of the better films this year in general, not even considering horror alone!

1408
Release Date: June 22
Watch The Trailer
Director: Mikael Håfström
Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Shalhoub
What It's About: Based on Stephen King's short story, 1408 stars John Cusack as a debunker of paranormal occurrences who encounters real terror when he checks into the notorious Room 1408 at the Dolphin Hotel.
The Buzz: Without even hearing any real reviews yet, I've got a feeling this is going to be one amazing thriller. The trailer makes it out to be freakier than all hell, and I can only imagine what more is in stock once we see the full thing. The hype is pretty big too, as everyone who normally wouldn't consider it is adding it to their line up of films to see for the summer.
Worth Seeing? Yes, even if you aren't a horror fan, check it out.

Captivity
Release Date: June 22
Watch The Trailer
Director: Roland Joffé
Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Daniel Gillies
What It's About: A fashion model and a chauffeur are kidnapped and held hostage in a small room by a serial killer. While the madman methodically terrorizes them, the victims draw strength from each other and fall in love.
The Buzz: This film is running high off of its troubles with the MPAA for running advertisements that were too gruesome, but that doesn't mean much for the film. It's been waiting to hit theaters for quite some time and the studio releasing it (Lionsgate) is fairly confident to put it out in such a premium spot this summer. I guess the biggest thing going in it is hottie Elisha Cuthbert in the star role.
Worth Seeing? No, unless you really want to see Elisha Cuthbert get chased.

Black Sheep
Release Date: June 22 (Limited Theatres)
Watch The Trailer
Director: Jonathan King
Starring: Nathan Meister, Danielle Mason, Oliver Driver, Tammy Davis
What It's About: There are 40 million sheep in New Zealand and only 4 million inhabitants. After a genetic experiment goes wrong, New Zealand's sheep start turning nasty, and it's the humans who begin bleating.
The Buzz: After getting rave reviews and hitting the world wide web hard from the Toronto Film Festival (where they pulled a publicity stunt bringing live sheep to the movie's premiere), the film has got a lot pushing for it. It's pretty much a campy B-movie that knows it's a B-movie but still pulls of hilarious entertainment. It could live up to some of the other great B-movie horror films of past (Army of Darkness) or it could just fumble over itself.
Worth Seeing? Yes, if you want to how sheep take over the world!

The Strangers
Release Date: July 13
Director: Bryan Bertino
Starring: Gemma Ward, Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman
What It's About: Strangers is a suspense thriller revolving around a couple in a remote suburban house who are targeted by three dangerous masked strangers. The resulting clashes force the couple to go well beyond what they thought themselves capable of in order to survive.
The Buzz: Mysteriously there is no trailer, no real poster, nothing for this film yet. However a few photos showed up online that scared the sh*t out of even me, and now I'm curious to see what the heck this is all about. Again, it's a confident move by the studio (Rogue Pictures) putting it in the summer without a single bit of marketing out for it yet. This could become a surprise hit, as it's at least got Liv Tyler in it, but we really need a trailer to really know whether it's worth it.
Worth Seeing? Unsure? Wait until there's a trailer.

Skinwalkers
Release Date: July 27
Watch The Trailer
Director: Jim Isaac
Starring: Natassia Malthe, Shawn Roberts, Jason Behr, Rhona Mitra, Lyriq Bent
What It's About: Skinwalkers is a horror action film about a 12-year-old boy who suddenly finds himself at the center of a battle between two warring groups of werewolves. One group of werewolves is sworn to protect him, the other group is trying to kill him -- and the young boy's mother has to find out why her son is at the center of the conflict before time runs out.
The Buzz: This one was big news at Comic-Con last year where special effects maven Stan Winston spoke about some revolutionary new creature design for the werewolves, but after that, the movie disappeared. It kept getting delayed and delayed, and now they're throwing it into the summer line up. There really isn't any buzz for this anyway, as no one even knows what it is!
Worth Seeing? No, unless you liked that terrible werewolf movie from January, Blood + Chocolate.

The Signal
Release Date: August 10 (Limited Theatres)
Watch The Trailer
Directors: David Bruckner / Jacob Gentry / Dan Bush
Starring: Anessa Ramsey, Justin Welborn, AJ Bowen
What It's About: A horror film told in three parts from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission which invades every cell phone, radio and TV, turing people into killers.
The Buzz: Another independent film from Sundance, there are plenty of good reviews, but nothing that says it's as revolutionary as any of the other big horror films to come out of Sundance (Saw, Blair Witch Project). That doesn't mean it still won't be good or worth your time, and I think above all it's worth supporting as an indie film. It's got enough good buzz and intrigue to gain some attention, and the more it can get, the better.
Worth Seeing? Yes, if you're curious enough to see what it's about and help an indie film.

Rob Zombie's Halloween
Release Date: August 31
Watch The Trailer
Director: Rob Zombie
Starring: Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell
What It's About: After being committed for 15 years, Michael Myers, now a 21-year-old man and still very dangerous, escapes from the mental institution (where he was committed as a 6 year old) and immediately returns to Haddonfield, where he wants to find his baby sister. Anyone who crosses his path is in mortal danger.
The Buzz: There's a lot riding on Rob Zombie and this remake. Everyone is wondering if he can pull off a successful reboot of the franchise and have it return with the same force that it started off with in 1978. Even those who aren't fans of the Halloween franchise are just a bit curious and may hit the theaters at the end of the summer to see if they can scare the living crap out of you. However there's so much time until it comes out that the buzz still has time to build, and we still need to see a real full length trailer.
Worth Seeing? Yes, if you're a fan of the Halloween series or just curious to see what Rob Zombie has done with this revamp.

We'll be back at it again after August when the full-on horror season kicks in late September and October! For now, enjoy the summer and these horror films!

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