Last Updated on August 3, 2021
#1. GONE GIRL (OCTOBER 3RD)
Come on now, when master-craftsman David Fincher directs a new film, it becomes a prioritized must-see! So when you consider the fact my man is going back to a crime-laden, SE7EN and ZODIAC-style investigative procedural in the murder-mystery GONE GIRL – not to mention the wonderful word of mouth the flick is already garnering – there’s really no other genre-joint I’d rather see this autumn. There really isn’t. The setup is canard of simplicity. When a man’s wife suddenly disappears, he soon find himself as a prime suspect. Simple on the page, sure to complexify onscreen in a flavor only Fincher can fashion!
#2. INTERSTELLAR (NOVEMBER 7TH)
Three words. Chris motherf*cking Nolan! Real shite, is there a contemporary filmmaker more adept at seamlessly melding art and commerce? Only Spielberg comes to mind. So, sure to be a mainstream entertainment that actually requires thought – Chris Nolan and his star-studded cast (lead by Matt McConaughey) head to the cosmos to contemplate the nature of time and space in INTERSTELLAR. Lofty, ambitious, existential – let’s hope Nolan does for space-travel in INTERSTELLAR what he did for dreams in INCEPTION – pose exhilarating, edutaining questions of human capability in the context of a sweeping visual marvel. Should be nothing short of epic!
#3. HORNS (OCTOBER 31ST)
Hard to believe it’s been 4 years since French horror bon vivant Alexandre Aja directed a flick…that being the goofy bloodbath PIRANHA 3D. Well, after becoming Hollywood’s go-to remake man, Aja now teams with Stephen King’s son Joe Hill to sprout HORNS…an original demonic little thriller dropping on Halloween day. I personally can’t wait to see Aja get back to original material, especially in a piece that, with Daniel Radcliffe starring, completely subverts the Harry Potter innocence we associate the actor with. Throw in an R-rating, a two-hour runtime and Juno Temple…hell, I’m starting to spring a large horn in my shorts!
#4. EXISTS (OCTOBER 24TH)
Based largely on the comeback strength of LOVELY MOLLY, Eduardo Sanchez’s previous film, I am more than willing to give his new mysterious bigfoot yarn EXISTS a day in court. Not only does it come at a perfect time a week before Halloween, the flick is rated-R for language throughout, some violence, sexual content and drug use. Gotta love that shite! As for the scenario…as you’d imagine. Five friends take to the woods for a nice weekend getaway…only to be interrupted by a burly animalistic beast! Sounds platitudinous, but trust, if Sanchez brings the A-game he did in LOVELY MOLLY and his anthological stint in VHS-2 (not to mention BLAIR WITCH), we’re in good hands!
#5. THE GUEST (SEPTEMBER 17TH)
Coming off the blistering home-invasion thriller YOU’RE NEXT, sick-minded pals Simon Barrett (writer) and Adam Wingard (director) are back at with THE GUEST…another tale of a creepy domestic interloper, albeit for more covert this time out. If you’ve not seen the trailer or read the breakdown – THE GUEST follows a charming young war vet who ingratiates himself into a new host family. Thing seems idyllic at first…until strange macabre occurrences and fatal accidents keep recurring. Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens plays the titular weirdo racked with psychological torment.
#6. STONEHEARST ASYLUM (OCTOBER 24TH)
As a decade-long Brad Anderson fan – you know, the dude who gifted us with SESSION 9, THE MACHINIST, TRANSSIBERIAN (not to mention a couple episodes of The Wire) – I’m wholeheartedly down to peep his new pic, STONEHEARST ASYLUM (previously called ELIZA GRAVES). Hell, the cast alone – including Kate Beckinsale, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, Eva Green and others – is more than good enough to warrant a watch! Based on a Poe short story, the mental institution-set chiller centers on a recent med-school grad who gets in way too deep when falling for a new colleague. Just a hunch…bitch might be dead already!
#7. THE PYRAMID (DECEMBER 5TH)
Gregory Levasseur (HAUTE TENSION, THE HILLS HAVE EYES, P2) – longtime writing partner of fellow Frenchman Alexandre Aja – finally makes his directorial debut this fall with a labyrinthine monster-mash called THE PYRAMID, opening to the public December 5th. Interestingly, Levasseur is not credited for writing this one, about a squad of U.S. archaeologists who unearth a long-forgotten pyramid beneath the Egyptian desert. Of course, shite gets hectic when they discover their only problem isn’t finding the surface safely, but evading a subterranean breed of ghoul on the hunt as well. Should be a fun time from a proven horror scribe!
#8. DEMONIC (DECEMBER 12TH)
As if we need any extra incentive to see the Sapphic sizzle of Maria Bello, the fact Will Canon’s horror flick DEMONIC is not only rated-R – but also conceived by the warped mind of one James Wan – well, we should feel safe as kittens with our expectations. So here’s the setup. A cop (Frank Grillo) and a shrink (Bello) unite to investigate the grisly deaths of five people attempting to summon ghosts. Pretty promising premise, no? Again, given Wan’s track record, not to mention Canon’s first feature BROTHERHOOD, DEMONIC might be the new breakout franchise for the Aussie SAW creator.
#9. OPEN WINDOWS (OCTOBER 2ND- NOVEMBER 7TH)
Because I so admired the technological barriers Nacho Vigalondo broke with his mind-f*ck of a film TIMECRIMES, I have to see what he’s up to with his new avant-garde techno-thriller OPEN WINDOWS. Ok, so I just really want to open Sasha Grey’s windows…sue me! Real shite, little Elijah Wood continues his torrid genre affair with OPEN WINDOWS, which I’ve read plays like a real-time thriller presented through a desktop monitor. Now, I realize this has the potential to be the worst flick of the year – just awkward beyond belief – but I kind of admire the risk taken with such an ambitious idea. The flick hits VOD October 2nd before theaters.
#10. TUSK (SEPTEMBER 19TH)
I am the Walrus! As a damn near 20 year fan of Kevin Smith – not to mention how thoroughly floored I was by Michael Parks in RED STATE (GRINDHOUSE for that matter) – the duo’s terrific reunion in TUSK becomes a personal must-see this month. Have you scoped the trailer for this sumbitch? Jesus. Podcaster extraordinaire Justin Long and his heinous mustache gets in way over his head when attempting to interview the eclectic recluse Howard Howe (Parks). I’m talking about Long getting drugged-up, tied-down, then slowly, gradually, this Howard fella starts to transmute the dude into a goddamn mutant walrus. A walrus!
#11. HONEYMOON (SEPTEMBER 12TH)
Now this is precisely my kind of horror joint! HONEYMOON (which delightfully reminds me of Bava’s HATCHET FOR THE HONEYMOON) stars Harry Treadaway and Rose Leslie as a pair of newlyweds off to enjoy a weekend of romantic bliss in the isolated countryside. Think they’re alone? Fuck no! However, it doesn’t sound like this will be a slasher joint, a la Bava, or even a STRANGERS-esque cabin-invasion thriller. It sounds more like a bizarre possession picture taking place deep in the woods. You see, when the dude wakes up to find his wife missing, then sleepwalking deep in a wooded area…her personality is irreparably changed. Toward evil!
#12. BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP (OCTOBER 31ST)
It’s pretty simple to include BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP to the must-see fall curriculum. Allow me to count the ways. A flick starring the A-list acting likes of Oscar winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman? A flick ominously opening on Halloween day? A flick rated-R for brutal violence and language? A flick directed by 28 WEEKS LATER and RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES scribe Rowan Joffe? A flick rocking a strange MEMENTO-like plotline about an amnesiac struggling with a recent and tragic accident? What the hell else do you need? Ok then, all you film purists out there take note, this is the last film to ever use Fuji 35mm film. Wait, BE FUJI GO TO SLEEP?
#13. DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD (OCTOBER 10TH)
Seriously, who the hell around here does NOT want to feast upon the buffet of gory dark comedy in DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD? Swedish helmer Tommy Wirkola returns to the chair to maintain the sure-handed tone of the flick…deftly blending horror and comedy like very few before him have achieved. This time around, Werner, the Nazi zombie commander, is intent on ravaging an entire town’s population, not simply a few skiers on vacation. The antidote? Main man Martin sicks the Zombie Squad on their undead asses, a hardened battalion of take-no-shit militants!
#14. ANNABELLE (OCTOBER 3RD)
Anyone utterly mortified by the creepy-ass doll featured in THE CONJURING last year? Well then, ANNABELLE is the horror flick for you this fall! Based around that very inanimate toy, that very character if you will, ANNABELLE goes like this. When John gives his wife Mia a rare vintage doll as a gift, things get awfully weird in a quick hurry. The couple is viciously attacked one night by a satanic cult who uses the doll as a conduit of pure evil. Annabelle then forms a mind of its own and starts wreaking bloody fucking havoc on anyone its path. Dolls are frightening, as James Wan proved in DEAD SILENCE. ANNABELLE by contrast is PG-13, so take heed!
#15. OUIJA (OCTOBER 24TH)
Yeah, go ahead and call this one a guilty pleasure, because even rated PG-13, I’m giddily pumped like a schoolgirl on prom-night for OUIJA. Come on, I’m a child of the 80s, which means I caught more than my fair share of WITCHBOARD on cable. As such, I’ve always held a special fondness for the hack and hokum of the ouija-board lore, even owned one as a kid (what horror fan didn’t?) Now let’s be clear, I expect OUIJA – from first time director Stiles White – to be pretty damn asinine. Sure White wrote BOOGEYMAN, THE POSSESSION and had the temerity to write remakes of THE BIRDS and POLTERGEIST – but OUIJA? So bad it has to be seen…that’s where I stand!
Follow the JOBLO MOVIE NETWORK
Follow us on YOUTUBE
Follow ARROW IN THE HEAD
Follow AITH on YOUTUBE