It’s Sunday, which means it’s time for theHorror Haul, our weekly round-up and one-stop-shop for all things horror. This week in horror, the newItmovie officially received the R-rating we all knew it would, but it also seems to confirm that a key scene for the book has been mercifully cut from the film (if you’ve read it, you know the one). In some oh holy shit yeah news, The Chicago Cinema Society has discovered a scarcely used 35mm print ofDario Argento’sSuspiriaand arranged a tour of screenings across the U.S. Elsewhere,Eli Rothis teaming withJack Blackfor a gothic Amblin movie, of all things, and the Fantastic Fest shortDawn of the Deaflands online for all to see.
For all the horror news we’ve already covered on the site this week, you can click through the links below. Then, check out other genre highlights from the week and finish it all up with a rundown of the week in horror movie trailers. For more, be sure to hit upCollider Nightmaresor our round-up of thebest horror movies on Netflix. Thanks for tuning in, and sound off in the comments with your thoughts, questions, and other horror musings.
Interviews
‘It’ Lands the ‘R’ Rating we All Knew it Would
In a surprise to no one but a relief to many,Andy Muschietti’s adaptation ofStephen King’sIthas received an “R”-rating from the MPAA for “violence/horror, bloody images, and for language.” Which is pretty much exactly what you would expect from a cinematic spin on one of King’s most horrifying, twisted and child-murdery novels. Of note, that R-rating doesn’t mention any sex stuff, which will also be a relief for those familiar with the book and it’s most infamous “coming of age scene”. His material has always been sexual (long liveStephen King Boners), but nobody wants to see a bunch of preteens going at in the sewers. Apparently,Bill Skarsgard’s spin on Pennywise is so terrifying hemade child extras cry on set, so there should be plenty of disturbing material to earn that R-rating, even without the creepy subterranean shagging.
Itarrives in theaters September 8 and also starsJaeden Lieberher, Wyatt Oleff, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Chosen Jacobs, andNicholas Hamilton.
New Line Cinema’s horror thriller “IT,” directed by Andrés Muschietti (“Mama”), is based on the hugely popular Stephen King novel of the same name, which has been terrifying readers for decades.
When children begin to disappear in the town of Derry, Maine, a group of young kids are faced with their biggest fears when they square off against an evil clown named Pennywise, whose history of murder and violence dates back for centuries.
Uncut 35MM Print of ‘Suspiria’ Discovered, Will Screen Across the U.S.
Holy freaking heck this is exciting for any film and/or projection nerd. The Chicago Cinema Society has discovered an uncut Italian 35mm Print ofDario Argento’sSuspiria. Between this, the gorgeousrestoration coming from Synapse Films, and Luca Guadagnino’s intruiging remake (scored by Tom Yorke, no less), 2017 is shaping up to be a wonderful year for Suspiria lovers. The uncut print was found at a shut down Italian Cinema, where it was untouched in their storage since the late 1970s, and features a number of iconic scenes that were cut from the original prints released in America.
Here’s what theCCShad to say about the discovery and the quality of the print:
“After a brief inspection to assess the overall condition of the print, it appears as if it had only been screened a handful of times at most. The print is in excellent physical condition with no substantial wear, uncut heads and tails, minimal fading and no vinegar syndrome. Once we had the print in our film archive, we then made a very careful inspection to determine which version of Suspiria we had obtained. We were stunned to find that the print is a completely uncut 6 reel print with a run time of 98 minutes in Italian language. We then privately screened the print and recorded excerpts, which can be found on ourYouTube channel, to give people a better sense of what the print actually looks like.”
Here’s the current lineup of screenings. There have been reports it will also screen in Los Angeles during the early fall, but that is no longer listed in the lineup (please please please come to LA, CCS. We’re all counting on you.)
7/28 – 05-06-2025:The Metrograph, New York City, NY
13-06-2025:Roxie Theatre, San Francisco, CA
8/23 – 14-07-2025:Gateway Film Center, Columbus, OH
06-07-2025:The Denver Film Society, Denver, CO
03-07-2025:The Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI
21-07-2025:The Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, TN
18-06-2025:Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA
10/26 – 15-06-2025:Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA
Late Fall:Music Box Theatre, Chicago, IL
15-07-2025:Alamo Drafthouse, Littleton, CO
14-06-2025:Alamo Drafthouse, Yonkers, NY
30-07-2025:Northwest Film Center, Portland, CO
12-07-2025:Suy-Ray Cinema, Jacksonville, FL
10-08-2025:Cinema Arts Centre, Huntington, NY
02-06-2025:The Charles Theater, Baltimore, MD
13-06-2025:The Little Theatre, Rochester, NY
Ridley Scott Says the Engineers Will Return in the Next ‘Alien’ Movie
TheAlienfranchise has long been a fascinating spectacle of mixed returns, but observing the reactions and course corrections followingPrometheusandAlien: Covenanthas been an especially interesting time. After audiences balked at the Xenomorphless,Blade Runner-tinged themes ofPrometheus,Ridley Scottand 20th Century Fox redirected the franchise with a distinct shift toward the hard R horror (and the familiar title) of installments past. Even so, it’s clear that Scott is committed to telling the creation story of the deadly space critter we met in Alien, and it seems the Engineers still have a role to play.
In an interview with MTime, Scott revealed that the Engineers will return to discover the aftermath of David’s Ozymandias moment and the film will take us to… the planet. What planet exactly, is not very clear. There’s a running theory that David and Shaw didn’t actually land on the Engineers' home planet but another of their Earth-like creations. I kind of buy it, so maybe Scott might mean we’ll finally see their home planet. Or maybe not. He could also mean LV-426, where Ripley and co. first find the Xenomorph inAlien. Again, it’s hard to tell what exactly he means.
“We’re being written now,” Scott says in the video interview below. “There’ll be three or four different players coming in to investigate. One of which will be the Engineers arriving back to find their planet decimated. I think those ships come and goon regular intervals. I see them as the gardeners of space… Where we go next is obvious. We’re gonna actually go to the planet."
Eli Roth to Direct Amblin Gothic Horror Film Starring Jack Black
Eli Rothis directing… an Amblin movie? We live in strange days, indeed.TheHostelandThe Green Infernodirector has signed on to helm the gothic horrorThe House with a Clock in its Wallsfor Amblin Entertainment and Mythology Entertainment.Jack Blackis set to star and the script comes fromSupernaturalcreatorEric Kripke, who adapts from the 1973John Bellairsbook.
PerVariety,
The story is set with a recently orphaned 10-year-old boy named Lewis Barnavelt moving to the town of New Zebedee, Mich., to live with his mysterious uncle — who turns out to be a warlock, while his next-door neighbor Florence Zimmermann is a witch.
The titular house was previously owned by a couple who had dedicated their lives to black magic, and plotted to bring about the end of the world through a clock hidden in the walls, where it eternally ticks.
Watch the Viral Fantastic Fest Short ‘Dawn of the Deaf’
Dawn of the DeaffromRob SavageonVimeo.
If you go to Fantastic Fest, it’s a guarantee that you’re going to see some cool shit. But it’s also certain that some of that cool shit is going to get by you. Such is the case withDawn of the Deaf, a real treat of a horror short that I missed when it screened at last year’s FF. Directed byRob Savage, the short has been attracting awards attention while doing the festival rounds over the last year and now that it’s finally online for all to see, it’s having a bit of a viral moment as a staff pick on Vimeo. It runs just shy of 12 minutes, is well-worth your time, and will definitely leave you hungry for the feature length version Savage is trying to get off the ground. Watch the full short in the video above and check out the logline below.
“When a strange sound wipes out the hearing population, a small group of Deaf people must band together to survive.”
Trailer Trash: LGBT Horror ‘Rift’; Go90 Series ‘Snatchers’
RIFT follows Gunnar, who receives a strange phone call from his ex-boyfriend, Einar, months after they broke up. Einar sounds distraught, like he’s about to do something terrible to himself, so Gunnar drives up to the secluded cabin where Einar is holed up and soon discovers that there’s more going on than he imagined. As the two men come to terms with their broken relationship, some other person seems to be lurking outside the cabin, wanting to get in.
Snatchershttps://www.youtube.com/embed/paq-I9460U0
“Snatchers” follows Sara, a status-obsessed high school student, who, to preserve her social standing, has sex for the first time and unexpectedly wakes up pregnant…really pregnant. Things take an interesting turn the morning after she loses her virginity when she quickly discovers she’s pregnant with an alien baby screaming to get out. Now she’ll have to team up with her nerdy ex-best friend Hayley to fight against an extraterrestrial threat, and hopefully keep her mom and friends from finding out about her alien offspring.
The Evil in Us
“In THE EVIL IN US, six school friends meet up for a Fourth of July celebration on a remote island off the Washington coast for a weekend of fun and partying. But the good times quickly turn into a nightmare when they unknowingly take a new bio-active drug containing a virus that causes fits of psychotic rage. Only one girl, Brie (Bush), doesn’t take the drug and she alone must fight to stay alive as her friends slowly turn into bloodthirsty cannibals. Trapped on the island, Brie must endure the unimaginable in a desperate battle for survival.”
