10 Upcoming Horror Movies For Second Half of 2013
By Ben Johnson
Random (August 30)
I could find literally no trailers, website, or news of any kind more recent than February about this movie starring Twilight’s Ashley Greene. According to IMDB, it’s a thriller surrounding a girl who stays on her college campus during Thanksgiving break only to be targeted for torment by “a gang of outcasts.” The one photo I found shows Greene with facial piercings and wearing a hoodie, so there are absolutely no stereotypes being called upon at all in this movie. Also, I’ve been on a college campus for Thanksgiving break, and there are still, like, people around. I didn’t once feel tormented. Kind of a letdown, actually.
Insidious Chapter 2 (September 13)
This sequel to 2010’s Insidious will revisit the Lambert family of the original film and delve deeper into the circumstances surrounding the haunting of their son. As with all “part two”s, this film has the challenge of taking what worked in the first chapter and expanding on it without using too many of the same tricks. Unfortunately, the majority opinion of part one was that it stuck too closely to horror movie clichés and didn’t bring a whole lot new to the table. It’s rare for horror sequels to genuinely succeed, so I’m curious how this one will fare among critics. It does have going for it rising horror star director James Wan (who I mentioned is also behind The Conjuring) behind the camera, who again seems to be honing his craft with each release.
The Devil’s Rapture (October 13)
Another case where there is just zero information about a movie. All I could find is that it stars Anne Heche and Debra from Dexter, and that it revolves around some sort of isolated village. Six girls in the village are born on the same day and as their collective 18th birthday approaches, they start to disappear one by one. Villagers start suspecting everything from a serial killer to a prophecy foretelling the coming of Satan, prompting what is sure to be no shortage of shady figures to act as such. Seriously, that’s all I’ve got. There’s not even a trailer out yet, but just like Satan to the village, this movie is coming.
Carrie (October 18)
The original movie adaptation starring Sissy Spacek remains one of the most acclaimed and successful horror films of all time, so the new version with up-and-coming Chloe Grace Moretz has its work cut out for it. The trailer doesn’t reveal anything about the intricacies of the plot and any changes/updates they’ve made from the original, but they’re clearly sticking with the iconic image of Carrie drenched in blood in all the promotional art. It’s probably a decent idea to connect the new take with the old, but it also leads me to wonder exactly why this remake is necessary. I’m unfamiliar with the novel so I don’t know how much room there is for staying closer to the original text, but this new interpretation had better add enough to the story to justify its existence.
Paranormal Activity 5 (October 25)
Next to nothing is known about the specific plot of the fifth entry in the Paranormal Activity franchise. However, based on the IMDB cast page, it looks like spookiness will once again revolve around the character of Katie, who has been the cause of all of the titular activity up to this point. What’s more, Demi Lovato of Disney Channel fame will be making her break into film as teenage Katie, so we’ll likely be getting more backstory into her haunting. While the first Paranormal Activity blew everyone away and made a huge profit four years ago, the subsequent movies have done less well at the box office, so the filmmakers will have to inject something new into the franchise if they want to keep it interesting. Though I’m sure we’ll still see plenty of people thrown around by demonic forces, which is really all I can ask for.