Antebellum (21^st August)

With a cast headlined by Janelle Monáe, Antebellum looks at a modern author, Veronica, who becomes trapped in a reality-based around slavery. Will she be able to figure out what has happened to her and escape before it’s too late? Many modern horror films have dealt with issues of race (see Get Out & Us) and Antebellum looks to specifically address issues regarding past and present treatment of people of colour in potentially really interesting ways by having a plot based around a modern woman forced to feel the hardship of slavery. If handled right Antebellum could not only be scary but prove again that horror is fertile ground for thought-provoking examinations of real social issues.

The New Mutants (28^th August)

The New Mutants is a spinoff of the X-men series. Focusing on five teenagers with mutant powers imprisoned in a facility against their will. The new mutants must come to terms with their dark pasts and fight their way out of captivity. Initially set to release in early 2018, New Mutants’ release date has changed many times since then. With reshoots also taking place to make the film scarier. With it finally set to release in August many are curious to see the result of the long-delayed film. And while the film may not justify the wait, the idea of a superhero horror film with a talented cast that includes Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton; Alice Braga and directed by The Fault in our Stars‘ Josh Boone is just too intriguing to resist. Hopefully, the upcoming film will at least be an entertaining attempt to do something different.

Relic (5^th October)

This Australian film is about a family that begins to have their home haunted in a way that feels like a manifestation of their grandmother’s dementia. Relic has received many good notices since its premiere at Sundance. Many reviews praised the performances of leads Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote, and Robyn Nevin and the film’s slow-burning suspenseful nature. Reviews also compared the film to both Hereditary and The Babadook meaning that it could have a very divisive reception. But if the scares are built-up right, with suspense rather than shock in mind, and the characters are written and performed well, we could have another modern Aussie horror hit on our hands.

Cordelia (23^rd October)

Coming to us from TV and film director Adrian Shergold (director of Pierrepoint: The Last Hang Man); written by and starring Antonia Campbell-Hughes. Cordelia is a British horror film about the titular character who lives in a flat with her twin Caroline. Cordelia was once an up and coming actress but suffered a traumatic experience that changed her. She now seems to have recovered but when her sister and her boyfriend leave her, the trauma threatens to resurface. Boasting a cast that includes Michael Gambon and Johnny Flynn and a trailer rife with quietly unsettling imagery. Cordelia bears the hallmarks of being a potential spooky surprise.

Saint Maud (23^rd October)

The feature debut from Rose Glass follows Maud, a very religious nurse who becomes obsessed with saving her patient from damnation. With solid critical reviews, some disturbing trailers, and A24, which has produced some of the most disturbing horror films of the last decade, backing it, Saint Maud looks set to be another creepy home run for A24.

So while we may not be seeing the release of every big horror film we wanted in 2020, horror fans still have plenty of upcoming releases to look forward to. Let me know what horror films you’re looking forward to down below.

Also Read: The Best of Blumhouse

The post Five Upcoming 2020 Horror Releases appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

A Sure-fire Hit

The film The New Mutants is based on comic book series of the same name, essentially taking place in the same universe as the X-Men films and comics but with a different sensibility and focusing on teenaged characters. The director is Josh Boone who is probably best known for directing The Fault In Our Stars and the film stars Maisie Williams (Arya Stark from Game of Thrones) and Anya Taylor-Joy (from The Witch and Emma). This is a pretty good formula for success – a hugely successful franchise, a talented director and some popular, likeable and skilled actors. But despite being finished filming years ago the film is currently scheduled for release in April 2020. I remember seeing the trailer for it and being quite excited, it seemed to have a darker tone than the X-Men films, perhaps even something closer to horror than sci-fi.

What exactly is this film about? Well, imagine you’re an unlucky mutant who instead of ending up in Charles Xavier’s School For Gifted Youngsters – a place of nurturing and education, you found yourself trapped in a very sinister and isolated hospital. The handful of mutants seem to have a very dark past with their powers – of harm and violence and are told they need to get better and they can do that in this hospital. This very sinister hospital.

What Happened?

I watched the trailer quite some time ago, in fact, a suspiciously long time ago. A lot of work goes into deciding when a film is released. Should it be late December/early January for an Oscar push? Or a summer blockbuster? Do you want to counter-programme against blockbuster with something completely different? And timing it badly can be disastrous to the success to the film. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has this planned out for years and every other film has to work out how best not to get crushed by the latest MCU movie. In the case of The New Mutants it was originally scheduled for release April 13 2018, however, after realising this clashed with Deadpool 2 it was pushed back to February 2019, which then clashed with Dark Phoenix so it was pushed back to August 2019. So a summer 2019 release then, well, no, Disney bought 20th Century Fox and rumour is were not impressed by the film and had raised the idea of not having a cinema release and putting it straight onto Disney+. Obviously, being released on a streaming service is no longer the sign of a bad film anymore with Netflix boasting a number of great films that never saw the inside of a cinema, but still, it could be seen as something of a demotion. There seems to have been a lot of reshoots, never a good sign with a film, with the idea to further lean towards the horror genre.

An Addition To The MCU?

Then comes the inevitable question, the dilemma that stalks every new X-Men film, where will it fit into the MCU? I’ve written on this site before that I don’t think every Marvel film needs to be part of the MCU and with the acquisition of 20th Century Fox and X-Men that the X-Men especially should be kept free from it. My basic feeling is that a world full of mutants doesn’t mix well with a world of superheroes, compared to Wolverine, Captain America is not terribly impressive. Concerning The New Mutants…part of this rests on where The New Mutants fits in with X-Men, will other Professor X or Cyclops show up? Keeping the timeline of the X-Men films clear is already far too complicated, will adding The New Mutants push things too far?

Without any additional problems getting in the way, the film is due for a UK release of 10th April and so we’ll all be able to see whether it has been worth the wait.

Also Read: When Great Video Games Become Lacklustre Movies

The post The Difficult Road Of The New Mutants appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.