The Week in Horror: ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Malignant’, ‘Cuckoo’, + more!

It’s a special Labour Day edition of The Week In Horror, which means…I worked really hard on this one? Nah, that can’t be it. Anyway, this week’s news has scoops on the new Resident Evil reboot, a new anthology from Guillermo Del Toro, a bunch of trailers, a NECA release, and more! Take a look here!

Indie studio NEON, who produced two back-to-back Palme D’Or winners at Cannes with Bong Joon-Ho’s Parasite and Julia Ducournau’s Titane, has a new film in development from LUZ director Tilman Singer, according to Dread Central this week. Cuckoo will star Sofia Boutella (Prisoners of the Ghostland), John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich), Gemma Chan (Crazy Rich Asians), and Hunter Schafer (Euphoria). We’re big fans of LUZ out here, and this one looks amazing. Principal photography on Cuckoo will start in April 2022.

James Wan’s Malignant will be out in only two weeks or so, and he released a trailer this week that upends the traditional formula by breaking in and explaining what he was trying to achieve with the film. It’s an interesting format and definitely builds the hype for Malignant‘s release on September 10 in theatres and on HBO Max. Check out the trailer here!

It’s time to head back to Raccoon City for Claire Redfield and the gang in director Johannes Roberts’ reboot of the Resident Evil films, called – wait for it – Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Kaya Scodelario heads up the film as Claire, and is joined by Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (Upload) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Leon S. Kennedy, and Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) as William Birkin.

We’ve got a couple of images from the film, courtesy of IGN. They seem to capture the look and feel of the game, which seems to be a main focus for Roberts. Speaking to IGN, the director says, “We worked hand in hand with Capcom on this movie to the point that we actually got blueprints from them on the designs of the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon police station in order to recreate them as perfectly as we could. We even have the exact artwork up on the mansion walls. Capcom saw it for the first time the other day and was so happy and excited.”

In pretty surprising news for horror fans and the industry alike, The Hollywood Reporter revealed this week that the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre film, produced by Fede Alvarez and directed by David Blue Garcia, will be heading to Netflix. This is a pretty big get for the streaming giant and it remains to be seen if this will affect the film’s theatrical release. Texas Chainsaw Massacre stars Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Olwen Fouéré (Mandy), Alice Krige (Star Trek), and Jacob Latimore (The Maze Runner).

The anthology horror space is pretty dang crowded these days, especially with the upcoming release of V/H/S/94, but to say that the announcement of Guillermo Del Toro’s own anthology is my most anticipated of these is a major understatement. Deadline reports that GDT’s Cabinet of Curiosities will feature segments from Jennifer Kent (The Babadook), Vincenzo Natali (Cube, Splice), Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), Ana Lily Amanpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night), and more! The full press release has more details about the segments:

● Essie Davis (The Babadook), Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead) and Hannah Galway (Sex/Life) star in an episode written (based on an original story by Guillermo del Toro) and directed by Jennifer Kent (The Babadook)

● Amadeus Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham (Mythic Quest), Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Luke Roberts (Ransom) will appear in an episode written by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) (based on a short story by Michael Shea), and directed by David Prior (The Empty Man).

● Tim Blake Nelson (Watchmen), Elpidia Carrillo (Euphoria), Demetrius Grosse (Fear The Walking Dead) and Sebastian Roché (The Man in the High Castle) star in an episode written by Regina Corrado (Deadwood; The Strain) (based on an original story by Guillermo del Toro); and directed by Guillermo Navarro (Godfather of Harlem; Narcos)

● Crispin Glover (River’s Edge) and Ben Barnes (Shadow and Bone) star in an episode written by Lee Patterson (Curve) (based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft) and directed by Keith Thomas (Firestarter)

● Peter Weller (Star Trek Into Darkness) stars in an episode directed by Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), who also writes along with Aaron Stewart-Ahn

● Mika Watkins (Origin) writes an episode (based on a short story by H.P. Lovecraft) directed by Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight); with cast to be announced

● David Hewlett (See) cast in an episode written (based on a short story by Henry Kuttner) and directed by Vincenzo Natali (Hannibal)

● Haley Z. Boston (Brand New Cherry Flavor) serves as writer of an episode (based on a short story by comic book author Emily Carroll) directed by Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) with cast to be confirmed.

Not to step on my dude Eric’s toes for Figure Friday, I got a scoop about the new Evil Dead figure from NECA, via our old friend Twitter. The figure depicts Bruce Campbell as Ash Williams in the style that we first met him – no chainsaw, no blood – but with tons of great detail. Expect this one to come available sometime before the end of the year, to tie in with Evil Dead‘s 40th anniversary in 2021.

I was a huge fan of Randall Okita’s home invasion thriller See For Me, and now you’ll be, um, seeing it yourselves courtesy of IFC Midnight, who Dread Central reported has picked up the rights. This Canadian production starring the excellent Skyler Davenport was one of my favourite surprises at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, and I can’t wait for you all to get a glimpse when See For Me drops in 2022.

The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is the setting for Chris Beyrooty and Connor Martin’s new horror, Shelter in Place. The film stars Brendan Hines (The Tick, Lie to Me), Tatjana Marjanovic (Great White, Purgatory), Kevin Daniels (Atypical, Modern Family, The Big Leap), Ola Kaminska (The Madness Within), and Jey Reynolds and is about “a honeymooning couple [that] gets stranded at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and learns that there is more to fear than just cabin fever.” Check out the trailer for Shelter in Place here, ahead of the film’s release on VOD and Digital on September 14, 2021.

The Fantasia International Film Festival wrapped up their 25th amazing, groundbreaking edition last week and once again presented the best of genre film from around the world. As the festival closed out, it continued the tradition of handing out audience awards to some of the Fantasia fans favourite films. South Korea’s Voice of Silence from director Hong Eui-jeong and Rob Jabbaz’s The Sadness took top honours with the juries, and Phil Tippett picked up a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award from the festival for his amazing stop-motion film, Mad God.

Take a look at all the winners on the festival site here!

Finally, fans of the breakout zombie hit Train To Busan will be overjoyed to find out that director Yeon Sang-ho’s next project, a TV series called Hellbound, is full steam ahead.

“Hellbound tells a story of surviving under social chaos when a group of supernatural beings appear and condemn people to hell. A new religious group interprets them as the will of the divine. What unfolds through this predicament is an intense and highly-charged story about people who must survive under conditions of utter social chaos.”

The series will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and you can take a look at the trailer here!