Another San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) has been and gone and amidst the various panels, queues and must-see displays, exclusive announcements and sneak-peak previews emerged in abundance.Marvel, Ant-Man, Batman vs. Superman... It's only natural that these big hitters dominate headlines. But what about horror? Well fear not my fiendish friends, as below is a round-up of all horror highlights from this year's SDCC.
Scream Factory's future releases
First up in the world of film, Scream Factory announced their plans to release ten horror classics on blu-ray. Titles include Dolls, Monkey Shrines and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh. No release dates or special features have been confirmed yet, but it's nice to know that such delights could be joining our collections soon.
It was only a matter of time before last year's gaming behemoth, The Last of Us, would be snapped up for a feature-film adaptation. Alas the time has come and it was confirmed at SDCC by the man himself, that Sam Raimi would produce this genre-defying, survival epic. In cohorts with Raimi will be the game's co-director and writer, Neil Druckmann, who is also on board to produce and write the film's script.
So far, so good but what about casting? Who will play Ellie? Well, nothing has been officially confirmed, but both Raimi and Druckmann have voiced their wishes to cast Game of Thrones' very own Maisie Williams in the infamous role. Josh Brolin for Joel anyone?
Trailers, trailers, trailers!
Of course, SDCC wouldn't be complete without a few exclusive trailers here or there to get those heart rates going in Hall H. First up is the new trailer for Alexandre Aja's Horns...
This is the most we've seen of the film to-date and it's mightily impressive - stylistically accomplished, dark, comical and what looks to be a strong and compelling performance from Daniel Radcliffe. Horns is due for release 31st October, 2014.
Unfortunately the same can't be said for Leprechaun: Origins, which had its first official trailer exclusively shown at the WWE panel...
Fans mostly enjoy the Leprechaun franchise down to its cult-rendering shoddiness, the "its-so-bad-its-good" quality comprised of bad dialogue, bad editing and bad effects. All of that, dare I say charm, seems to be lost here in what appears to be a very dull and generic reboot. Leprechaun: Origins is due for release on August 26th (VOD) and September 30th (DVD/Blu), 2014.
The same panel also premiered the trailer for See No Evil 2, which sees the revival of Jacob Goodnight (played by WWE superstar Kane) thanks to the directorial work of Jen and Sylvia Soska, aka the Twisted Twins.
Also staring Danielle Harris and Katharine Isabelle, this looks to be a decent neo-slasher full of tongue-in-cheek dialogue and gory violence. In other words, a good old fashioned horror romp. See No Evil 2 is due for release on October 17th (VOD) and October 21st (DVD/Blu), 2014.
Yet the standout trailer for upcoming horrors at this year's SDCC was for Kevin Smith's Tusk. As low-budget Canuxploitation goes, this walrus-body-horror looks defiantly dark and bizarre, boasting a great cast and truly comical one-liners.
At the panel, Smith revealed little more on Tusk other than his plans to turn this into a 'True North' trilogy. Yet adoration for this film is nevertheless apparent, and if the above trailer is anything to go by, we're in for a unique and twisted treat. Tusk is due for release on September 19th, 2014.
In the world of television...
...highlights include the Hannibal panel - in which Bryan Fuller categorically denied any appearance of Clarice Starling - and the American Horror Story: Freak Show panel - which announced newcomer John Carroll Lynch and his role as this season's villain.
In addition to The Last of Us, Raimi also announced that he is working on an Evil Dead TV series with his brother, Ivan. Details are scarce, unlike the skepticism, but at the very least it appears Bruce Campbell is on board. Groovy.
For horror TV at this year's SDCC however, there was only one star... or should we say many, undead stars. That's right, walkers and all, The Walking Dead took centre stage and was met with raucous adoration, as the cast and crew revealed the first official trailer for Season Five.
Fans of the graphic novel may well be a little apprehensive at the direction this adaptation has taken, but it cannot be denied that this trailer does a cracking job at conveying an action-packed, violent and emotional season, with plenty of twists and turns to boot. The Walking Dead returns in the US on Sunday, October 12th and a day later in the UK on Monday, October 13th, 2014.
Honorable Mention...
Okay so it's not strictly horror (not unless you count the film's production history) but this exclusive is nevertheless worthy of a mention. Mad Max: Fury Road was without doubt this year's biggest hitter at SDCC. Convention pundits were lucky enough to witness this material first-hand but thankfully, Warner Bros. were kind enough to whack it up online too...
Vast desert landscapes, traditional stunt car action and some badass performances from the likes of Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult, prove that this latest effort by director George Miller will be, quite frankly mad and in the best possible way. Mad Max: Fury Road is due for a release in May 2015.
So that's it for Wise Words...'s SDCC 2014 Horror Highlights! Share your thoughts and comment below - what were your highlights from this year's SDCC? Is there anything you're particularly looking forward to? Until next time...!
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