Suburban Hell: Paul Feig, Sam Raimi team up for possession horror comedy

It’s still not clear when or if Universal Pictures is going to let director Paul Feig (Ghostbusters: Answer the Call) move forward with his Universal Monsters project Dark Army – but instead of just waiting around for that, Feig is teaming up with genre legend Sam Raimi for a horror comedy called Suburban Hell! Feig will be producing the movie through his company Feigco Entertainment while Raimi produces through his company Ghost House.

Based on a novel by Maureen Kilmer, Suburban Hell will tell the story of a tight-knit group of suburban moms whose friendship is put to the ultimate test when one of them becomes possessed by an evil spirit.

The description of Kilmer’s novel (pick up a copy HERE) provides some more information: Amy Foster considers herself lucky. After she left the city and moved to the suburbs, she found her place quickly with neighbors Liz, Jess, and Melissa, snarking together from the outskirts of the PTA crowd. One night during their monthly wine get-together, the crew concoct a plan for a clubhouse She Shed in Liz’s backyard—a space for just them, no spouses or kids allowed. But the night after they christen the She Shed, things start to feel . . . off. They didn’t expect Liz’s little home-improvement project to release a demonic force that turns their quiet enclave into something out of a nightmare. And that’s before the homeowners’ association gets wind of it. Even the calmest moms can’t justify the strange burn marks, self-moving dolls, and horrible smells surrounding their possessed friend, Liz. Together, Amy, Jess, and Melissa must fight the evil spirit to save Liz and the neighborhood . . . before the suburbs go completely to hell.

Deadline reports that Joanna Calo, co-showrunner of the FX series The Bear, is writing the screenplay. It’s not clear if Feig intends to direct the movie, but he will be producing it alongside Raimi, Feigco’s Laura Fischer, and Ghost House’s Rob Tapert. Romel Adam and Jose Cañas will be overseeing the project for Ghost House. Legendary Entertainment is also in the mix.

Given that Feig is involved, we can probably expect Suburban Hell to lean further into comedy territory than into the realm of comedy. While discussing Dark Army, Feig has made it clear that he is not a fan of horror, specifying that Dark Army would be a “monster movie” rather than a “horror movie”.

How does Suburban Hell sound to you? Have you read the Maureen Kilmer novel, and are you looking forward to seeing the story brought to the screen? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I hadn’t heard of the novel before the movie announcement, but I’ll definitely be checking it out now. And I’ll be looking forward to the movie, because I watch anything with Raimi’s name on it.