Today we’re looking through 8 exciting upcoming horror releases that will (hopefully) release this year. We will give a brief synopsis of what we know about these films. And explain why you should be excited to see them.

1. In the Earth (30th January – Sundance Film Festival)

Ben Wheatley’s latest film focuses on a scientist and a park scout going on an equipment run after a virus infects the world (topical). Wheatley’s projects are always fascinating thanks to his ability to get great performances from his actors and effectively build atmosphere. In the Earth also sees Wheatley round up prior collaborators, including Reece Shearsmith (A Field in England), Hayley Squires, and Mark Monero (Happy New Year, Colin Burstead). Let’s hope this is another winner.

2. The Blazing World (31^st January – Sundance Film Festival)

Carlson Young’s debut feature is about a woman drawn into a surreal world where her sister is still alive. This movie deserves more attention from the trailer alone. The candy-coloured lighting juxtaposes brilliantly against a foreboding soundtrack and frightening images. Like a smiling man in black, and a worried girl amongst her smiling friends. The Blazing World looks like David Lynch meets Suspiria (1977). What a nightmarish treat.

3. Prisoners of the Ghostland (1^st February – Sundance Film Festival)

From cult director Sion Sono (Suicide Club and Love Exposure) this action, horror, thriller follows a notorious criminal (Nicolas Cage) who must break an evil curse to recover a missing girl. While the story sounds generic the pairing of Cage’s and Sono’s odd talents could lead to another Cage cult horror hit like Mandy and Colour Out of Space. With production stills showing Nic Cage’s quintessential mania, Prisoners of the Ghostland looks like a fun time.  

4. Morbius (19^th March)

This MCU adjacent Sony movie focuses on Morbius, the living vampire. Jared Leto plays brilliant biochemist Michael Morbius whose experiments to cure himself of a disease result in him developing abilities such as super strength, echolocation, and gaining a thirst for human blood. With a horror-inspired aesthetic Morbius looks like a welcome attempt to try something different from other MCU films. Let’s hope this horror comic book film lands better than New Mutants.

5. Last Night in Soho (23^rd April)

When a young woman obsessed with 1960s fashion travels back in time and meets her idol things take a dark turn as time begins falling apart. Last Night in Soho comes to us from Edgar Wright. Wright”s track record alone should entice anyone to see this movie. And with a cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Rita Tushingham, and the late Diana Rigg, Last Night in Soho should be on everyone’s radar.

6. The Green Knight (30^th July)

Whenever A24 releases a new horror film the horror community takes notice. Starring Dev Patel as Sir Gawain, David Lowery’s latest project reimagines the classic folktale with a decidedly darker edge. The trailer should excite any horror fan. Full of creeping camerawork, unnerving music, and nightmarish fantasy creatures, The Green Knight looks set to please fans of the niche studio.

7. Candyman (2021) (27^th August)

With Tony Todd returning as the iconic villain, Jordan Peele (Get Out and Us) contributing to the screenplay and producing the film, which will be a spiritual sequel rather than a remake of the classic film, and promising new director Nia DaCosta helming the project all of this adds up to a film that looks to be respecting the legacy of the original Candyman while offering something that looks fresh and new.

8. Malignant (2021 TBA)

Finally, little is known about this project, but it’s a reportedly original idea from horror master James Wan. Who birthed great modern horror films like Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring movies. And honestly, that pedigree is all you should need to be excited.

There you have 8 upcoming horror releases you should watch (if possible) this year. Are there any future horror releases you’re anticipating? Please let us know.

Also Read: The Best Horror Films of the Decade

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The post A Horror Fans Film Guide To 2021 appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Interacting on Social Media and YouTube

Sometimes the best motivation to give something a watch is knowing that others will be watching the same thing. Well over the past few weeks various social media sites and platforms like YouTube have presented opportunities for you to give a film a watch and interact with the wider community.

Several big names have encouraged the world to check out certain titles on Twitter. Jared Leto started his own tweet along cinema club with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And director James Gunn recently joined in with a #QuarantineWatchParty of Guardians of the Galaxy. Meanwhile, on Facebook, groups like Celluloid Screams have used the Watch Party function to host their own movie marathons. Here the festival programmers provided intros for several horror films encouraging people to binge-watch all of them in a single day.

Also, platforms like YouTube have proven a great place for watch parties to be hosted. Actor Riz Ahmed recently hosted a live stream on the platform where he provided commentary on the film Four Lions along with the films other actors Kayvan Novak & Nigel Lindsay.

The appeal of these online events comes from knowing that you are watching these titles along with others. And that you are able to engage and interact with them. So keep an eye open for similar events coming up on these platforms. Or why not host your own?

3^rd Party Applications and Add Ons

There are also several applications and add ons you can use to interact with others while watching films. Video and voice chat applications like Skype, Messenger Video Call and Discord allow you to connect with friends and chat along together while watching something.

But there are also apps that allow simultaneous viewing of films with your friends. For example the Netflix Party application for Google Chrome. This app allows you and several friends to watch and text chat over the same show/movie on Netflix at the same time. However, it’s currently only available on Chrome. Other resources like Metastream also offer similar services. Finally, there are services like Kast. This application works on Windows and Mac; it allows you to connect with several other people and stream your computer screen to them. Allowing you all to sit back and watch a movie on your platform of choice.

These apps and add ons provide a great way to Netflix and chill with your friends while in lockdown.

Festivals

Finally, because many film festivals have had to cancel physical screenings, several festivals including the upcoming SXSW festival in America and Visions du Réel 2020 in Switzerland have opted to showcase their films and other content on the internet. Releasing films through subscription services or websites, hosting interviews and performing masterclasses online. Which when coupled with the social media and connective opportunities mentioned above will allow the public to remain in touch with film culture. So be sure to keep an eye out for more opportunities like this in the future.

Conclusion

With all these options provided by 3^rd party companies and online platforms, we have ample opportunity to connect together and still enjoy a social media experience during the lockdown.

With many filmmakers and stars providing opportunities for socialization the community has a great opportunity to interact with each other as well as creatives in the industry. Allowing us to gain extra insight into films and perhaps giving us some inspiration to make something for ourselves. And while it may not be the same as the cinematic experience, these apps and events will help us stay in touch. As well as allowing us to continue experiencing great movie moments with others.

Also Read: The Most Important Cinema In The World (To Me)

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Christian Bale

Before American Psycho, the films on Christian Bale’s résumé were relatively squeaky clean, starring in such films such as Pocahontas, Little Women and the musical The News Boys. Stepping into the role of the titular psycho, Patrick Bateman was a far cry from his other roles, but since then he has gone from strength to strength, displaying a wide range of diversity and going to extreme lengths in order to fully delve into whatever character he is playing. From the rapid weight loss to show the effects of insomnia and paranoia in The Machinist to working out enough to suit the physique of the Dark Knight, Bale has shown his dedication towards any role.

Perhaps his most well-known role is now Batman, however, there is so much more to Bale’s repertoire than the Caped Crusader. Since American Psycho premiered, Bale has been nominated for four Oscars, one of which he won for Best Supporting Actor in The Fighter. It seems he’ll only be starring in one film this year, Ford vs Ferrari (or Le Mans ’66 depending on where you are in the world), however, I’m sure we’ll see him again very soon.

Jared Leto

Perhaps most well known for his music rather than his acting for a while, Jared Leto didn’t really have a starring role in many films. It seems for a while he was most well known for his roles as Jordan Catalano in My So-Called Life, Angel Face in Fight Club and Tobias Jacobs in Girl, Interrupted before he was hired to be Paul Allen in American Psycho, a colleague of Bateman’s, unaware that he is also his nemesis. Though his most memorable scene belongs to Bale more than it does to him (you know the one, where Huey Lewis and the News is playing just before Allen gets struck in the head with an axe), Leto has since become a lead actor in his own right, starring in films such as Requiem for a Dream and Mr Nobody.

Leto has also been nominated for and won an Oscar, for his role as Rayon, a transsexual diagnosed with AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club. Though Leto doesn’t act as often, he has starred in the Blade Runner sequel, has an upcoming Marvel film where he’s starring as a living vampire in Morbius and, of course, who can (or rather, who will) ever forget his Joker. According to Leto’s IMDB, there are two upcoming Joker films he is attached to so… we all have those to look forward to.

Willem Dafoe

Willem Dafoe is one of those actors where every time he pops up in a film, I always find myself saying to anyone I’m with (or even if I’m alone), “Hey look, it’s Willem Dafoe!” With over 129 credits to his name, Dafoe is one of those actors that I think surprises people with his range and the depth that he can bring to a role. Before becoming Donald Kimball, an NYPD detective that is suspicious of Bateman as starts to really get into his violent spree, Dafoe starred in Clear and Present Danger, Born of the Fourth of July and the incredible The Boondock Saints.

Though Dafoe has been in a wide range of films since, such as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Antichrist and even Mr Bean’s Holiday, it is hard to deny his take on the Green Goblin. Though Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy didn’t always have its best moments, I think its fair to say that Dafoe’s performance was one of the better things about the films. Since his performance as Norman Osborne, Dafoe became Vulko in Aquaman, a friend and mentor to Jason Momoa’s Arthur Curry. Dafoe has five films coming out this year and at least two coming out next year, which shows there is clearly no slowing this man down.

Reese Witherspoon

Reese Witherspoon already had three big films under her belt before American Psycho came around. She was a teenage runaway getting revenge in Freeway, a naïve and sweet girl in Cruel Intentions and as a manipulative, over-achieving girl in high school in Election. So although her role as Evelyn, Bateman’s as equally narcissistic, materialistic, cheating fianceé, was diverging from her usual ‘teenager’ role, it was worth it in the long run. Though like Leto, her best scene belongs to Bale (their inevitable break up scene), it still showcased her comedic timings as she over-dramatically cries in the restaurant.

From there, Witherspoon embraced and twisted the dumb blonde image at the same time in Legally Blonde, a film that cemented Witherspoon as a star. She went on to a win an Oscar for Best Leading Actress for her part as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line and was nominated again for Wild. Witherspoon has since delved in producing, her biggest producing credit thus far being the hit show Big Little Lies in which she also stars. Though it seems she’ll only be in Big Little Lies and The Morning Show this year, she’ll also be stepping into her iconic Elle Woods character once more, as Legally Blonde 3 will be heading our way in 2020.

Also Read: Women In Horror: An Ode to Laurie Strode

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