"Exorcist!" "Friday!" "Toyer!" More! - Various Horror News Bites

[Scott W. Davis]

A bunch of small horror news releases have already popped up in the last few days. Just can't sit on them any longer so here we go:



First off, the photo on the left is one of our first peeks at EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING ( formerly EXORCIST IV: DOMINION ). Celebrated International actor, Stellan Skarsgård plays Father Merrin and Gabriel Mann ( THE BOURNE IDENTITY, JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS ) plays Father Francis. The script is by Caleb Carr ( novelist who wrote the fantastic ALIENIST and THE ANGEL OF DARKNESS ) and William Wisher, Jr. ( TERMINATOR 2, THE 13TH WARRIOR ). Paul Schrader ( AUTO FOCUS, CAT PEOPLE ) directs, replacing John Frankenheimer who tragically passed away last year.



Also, for FRIDAY THE 13TH fans, something for the guys in Region 2 ( that's Europe, folks ) to get excited about for a change. The FRIDAY THE 13TH: SE DVD has still not been announced in the States by Paramount. Ahhh, but Paramount does not hold the international rights. And sure enough, Warners will release a Special Edition, with the excised gore footage and a new documentry called "Return to Crystal Lake." Source:



Brian De Palma is a director many either love or hate. I love him, so I'm excited about the news that he's tackling a horror project next. According to , it's an adaption of Gardner McKay's novel, TOYER. It involves, "a sadist who psychologically messes with the minds of women - and then uses a surgical instrument to put them in a coma before killing them." The film will shoot in Venice, Italy.



Bianca Kajlich has shot down the rumors of her appearing in a ninth HALLOWEEN movie. Thank God. On the flip side, Jeff Goldblum may be appearing in the fourth JURASSIC PARK film.



The Heath Ledger film, THE SIN EATER has gone through a number of changes, starting with the title. The film is now called THE ORDER ( Isn't that the name of that Van Damme movie from last year? ) and has been pushed back because the special effects were not up to snuff. The production is aiming for an August 2003 release date.



Mick Garris has spoken out about his two upcoming Stephen King projects. "RIDING THE BULLET is a feature film, with a limited, independent budget. I wrote the script from King's ebook, which on its own is only about a third or half a movie. We're in the casting stage now, but nobody is set in stone yet. We'll follow that with a 3-hour television version of DESPERATION for the ABC network, who we did STAND and SHINING for. King did three feature drafts ( of DESPERATION ); I will put it into the television format, then King will do a final polish - but it will be very faithful to the book...The hope is that RIDING THE BULLET will be in theatres in 2003, and DESPERATION will air in 2004" I gotta say, how faithful can DESPERATION be without pushing standards and practices to the limit? This all comes from a very good Stephen King site, btw - .



And in really lousy news, Terry Pratchett told the folks on usenet, "I truly believe that there is now no chance of GOOD OMENS being made into a movie". Pratchett wrote the novel with Neil Gaiman. It was a hilarious satire of religion and the world in general revolving around the apocalypse. The film was originally to be directed by Terry Gilliam ( BRAZIL, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS ).



And in our most vague news report, Rob Zombie talked with about what's next after his years-long battle over HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES looks to finally be ending. "Well, there's a couple of different movies, and I don't know which one could be possibly the next one," Zombie said. "You know, I'm working on a script right now that's not finished, and I'm up to direct possibly a script that someone else wrote. Neither is confirmed yet at this moment, so I can't say what's next. But I'm definitely looking towards the next thing... The process has been long and horrible in some respects. But it has been awesome in other ways. So, it's just like anything"



Note that I haven't mentioned the rumors surrounding SEVEN sequel or the fourth NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD film. We'll comment on this if more news pops up. Watch this space.

[JohnShaft]

Glad that the Exorcist Prequel has really gotten off the ground. It's something I really want to see, and it has bags of potential. Looks like it has a pretty good cast and crew too.

Also looking forward to the two Stephen King film projects, both stories have been in my "to read" pile for far too long. I just don't read like I used too.

But I could do without the Jurassic Park IV!!
Tell me I'm not the only one on the planet who almost universally dislikes them films as overated, mass-market-appealling trash! :P

[Scott W. Davis]

I dug the first JURASSIC PARK for being a fun and harmless horror flick with some jolts thrown in. The thing 'aint Peter Greenaway in it's extremes, but a good fun ride. I was however, very dissapointed with THE LOST WORLD and only moderately appeased with the average JURASSIC PARK. I am not really anticipating a fourth JURASSIC film as I've felt they've more than said what they needed to say.