Weekly Round-up: FrightFest, Predator and More!

It's that time again to round-up the best of last week's horror news! First up...

Takashi Miike returns!

Horror fans will be pleased to know that Japanese director Takashi Miike, famous for madcap, violent affairs such as Ichi the Killer and Audition, is back. He returns with two brand new features, Over Your Dead Body and Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld.

Over Your Dead Body is a loose adaptation of 'Yotsuya Kaidan', one of Japan's most infamous ghost stories. It follows actors Kosuke and Miyuki, who play respective parts in a stage adaption. As they delve deeper into their roles the lines between fiction and reality blur, resulting in - what one assumes to be - a rather gory and psychologically twisted crescendo. Check out the trailer below;


Not bloody enough? Well never fear gore-hounds, as there's an even greater blood-soaked version courtesy of Twitch, available on their website.

Taking on a slightly different narrative is Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld. This martial-arts-horror hybrid, staring Yayan Ruhian (The Raid, The Raid 2), follows the story of Akira and his admiration for the most powerful and seemingly invincible Yakuza, Genyo Kamiura. All is not what it seems however, as Kamiura is in fact a vampire. Promising to be yet another bloody affair, with plenty of fight scenes to boot, it sounds like we're in for an intense and violent showdown.

Over Your Dead Body will be hitting festivals soon.

Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld is set for a 2015 release.


New blu-ray releases for The Exorcist and Leprechaun

Out of all the upcoming blu-ray releases that have been announced over the past week, The Exorcist and Leprechaun are particularly note-worthy.

The Exorcist Complete Anthology will be receiving a re-distribution in fancy high-definition quality, thanks to those at Warner Bros. The collection will include all six films of the series;

• The Exorcist
• The Exorcist: Extended Director's Cut
• Exorcist II: The Heretic
• Exorcist: The Beginning
• Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist

Whilst the majority of these titles have been re-released on blu-ray already, Warner Bros. have full faith in the quality of this high-definition upgrade. Unfortunately further details of this special collection are yet to be announced, but stay tuned for news and updates, which will (hopefully) include some information on additional features. 

The Exorcist Complete Anthology is due for release on 23rd September.

Lionsgate have announced they are working on Leprechaun: The Complete Movie Collection - a box set to feature all seven installments of the franchise, including the upcoming Leprechaun: Origins. The collection will also include all-new bonus content such as;

• Audio commentaries from all directors of the first six films
• Three 'making-of' featurettes
• Never-before-seen behind-the-scene footage and photos
• Special feature content from the new Leprechaun: Origins release

This must-have collection is due for release on 30th September. 

Predator: remake, reboot or sequel?

Over the past week, Predator has dominated horror headlines and discussion. The original is getting a revisit, that's for certain, but will it be a remake, a reboot or a sequel? Well after much speculation it has been confirmed - the new Predator film will be a sequel. Shane Black and Fred Dekker are at the helm and both revealed, in a recent discussion with Collider, that a remake or reboot was not an option...

"As far as Fred and I are concerned... why start over when you've got all this rich mythology yet to mine?"

Black continued, "[I like] the idea of expanding and exploring the existing Predator mythology, rather than hitting the restart button". 

Well, they're saying all of the right things and with the combined credentials of Lethal Weapon, The Monster Squad, Night of the Creeps and Iron Man 3 behind them, it's hard to not have a little bit of faith. 

Listen out for further Predator updates.


FrightFest 2014 line-up

Last week it was announced that Adam Wingard's The Guest is the opening film for 2014's Film4 FrightFest. Now, ticketing issues aside, we can see what other films have been added to the line-up in London this year.

Highlights from the Main Screen include; Housebound, Zombeavers, the much anticipated Eli Roth vehicle, The Green Inferno, in addition to Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, new zom-rom-com Life After Beth and The Babadook. 

The Discovery Screens include Honeymoon, Wolfcop, new zombie documentary Doc of the Dead, Wolf Creek 2 and Bad Milo. Not to mention, A Nightmare on Elm Street 30th anniversary retrospective and a preview of the now BBFC classified, yet nevertheless controversial, Nekromantic.

Personally, the line-up doesn't have me overwhelmed with excitement but I'm sure the event will be fantastic regardless - who doesn't love an opportunity to celebrate horror?

For the full line-up, visit the official website.

That's it for now - stay tuned to Wise Words... for more horror updates.

In the mean time, feel free to post a comment!