SDCC 2016: The Horror Report
“Want to see something really scary?”
Remember that line from The Twilight Zone? Well, we have a scary big pile of news on the horror side of things from Comic-Con International in San Diego.
Groovy News
Heading into its second season on Starz, Ash vs. Evil Dead is expanding its cast to include Lee Majors as Ash Williams’ father.
The SDCC panel featured executive producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert along with stars Bruce Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Ray Santiago, and Dana DeLorenzo. Campbell introduced Majors during the appearance.
Following the events of the first season, Ash is back in Jacksonville after making his deal with the Devil, and Raimi told the crowd that the intensity will be higher thanks to the free hand given to the show by Starz. Campbell also acknowledged the creative freedom afforded by the network, saying Starz had given them “zero content restrictions”.
Lee Majors at our very own #SDCC panel. It's an honor. #AshvsEvilDead pic.twitter.com/MpjtfTiox5
— Ash vs Evil Dead (@AshvsEvilDead) July 24, 2016
Lawless’ character, Ruby, will be joining the gang after having been the villain for the first season. Says Campbell: “I don’t trust Ruby as far as I can throw her, but I’ll take her gas money.”
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Witches Brewing Up Trouble
Meanwhile, the third season of Salem (WGN) looks to be heating up the conflict between the witches and the devil. The trailer that dropped prior to SDCC, says executive producer Brannon Braga, is “…not clear. There is a Hell on Earth. We might even go to Hell this year. He’s not just destroying the town. There are much bigger things coming soon. The lost paradigm is what we’re going for. The devil has broken all of his promises to the witches. He’s not going to create a world of freedom – freedom from oppression or hypocrisy. For him, this is revenge. This is his revenge against God for casting him out of heaven. The witches were the means to be brought back. So the witches were bummed. They were lied to. Surprise. Now they got to stop the devil and the only person who could stop the devil is dead and that’s Mary. That’s just the first few minutes.”
EP Adam Simon says he’s looking forward to explaining why the Essex witches made a deal with the devil in the first place, telling NerdReactor, “We get that the witches were not servants of the devil. There were witches that were tied to other religions and other beliefs. We tell that story finally in season three. We tell that story of the Essex witches who really were pagans who went back hundreds and thousands of years in their beliefs ended up being so sick of being murdered by the Judeo-Christian powers that be and others. They finally said, okay, the heck with it and made a deal with the devil to get revenge in a way. Then when they do, they find the consequences are not to their liking. The devil is not going to deliver the regreening of the earth that they dreamt of. It’s only they who may have a chance of stopping them when they realize it’s the devil who is bringing everything they hate even moreso. That’s the funnest part for me intellectually certainly about the show. I’ve been waiting three years to say to people out there in the world, yes we know. We are not demonizing witches. Stick with us. Understand the history that we are playing with.”
Cotton Mather (Seth Gabel) and Anne Hale (Tamzin Merchant) appear to be an item no more, as their confrontation left Mather with a rat stuck in his throat, putting him under Anne’s spell.
And Mary (Janet Montgomery) — back from the dead — realizes that only she can destroy her son. John Alden (Shane West) will offer his help, as will the new partnership with the witches.
Salem returns to WGN Halloween.
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One Tough Mother
Season two of Lucifer will also feature a devil’s mother, with Tricia Helfer joining the cast as the escaped-from-Hell Charlotte, mother to both Lucifer and Amenadiel. The highlight reel doesn’t show Helfer much, but it does reveal who’s responsible for the jail break:
In an interview with Blastr, Helfer says Charlotte’s choice in form has a specific purpose, but it also creates issues for her. The suggestion is that she’s taken other forms, and could very well shift throughout the season. We’ll soon find out why she’s on Earth, why she’s looking to reconnect with her boys, and what will happen when she encounters Mazikeen.
Blastr has an exclusive interview with executive producer Joe Henderson here.
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Down to Tijuana
Meanwhile, the back half of Fear the Walking Dead will bring Danay Garcia to the cast, playing Luciana, part of a group from Tijuana who discovers Nick walking among the undead. This group doesn’t think the arrival of walkers is a necessarily bad thing. Should prove to be an interesting new dynamic to the show (which has frequently drawn the ire of our Mr. Harvey & Mr. Adair…).
Fear the Walking Dead returns with a seven-episode run Sunday, August 21st.
Meanwhile, don’t read too much into the absence of Melissa McBride from the panel lineup this year, says producer Gale Anne Hurd. The participants in The Walking Dead‘s panel were pretty much lined up as they were in the final moments of the show’s cliffhanger episode. Hurd said that SDCC only allows for so many people to be on stage, so it was a matter of logistics, not any indication about what may happen to Carol in the show.
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Fox is Turning Heads and Exercising Patients
We now have a trailer for The Exorcist, coming to Fox Broadcasting this fall. Based on the acclaimed movie, the series continues the story with new situations and a cast led by Academy Award winner Geena Davis.
In an interview with Flickering Myth, Davis says she was excited as soon as she heard what project was in the works. “I love horror. I love to watch horror movies and be in them, so just hearing the title of this series when they called me and wanted to talk to me, I went ‘Oh my God’. The reaction of anyone who I’ve told about this has been just … it’s had a very strong place in everyone’s psyche. Everybody saw the original and was scarred by it.”
Executive producer Jeremy Slater says the entire production team felt the responsibility of making sure the new series honors the legacy of the original film directed by William Friedkin. “I think everyone on board feels the responsibility of following in the footsteps of that and knowing that the original film casts a very long shadow. We feel that responsibility every single day. We are being true to the spirit of The Exorcist and telling a story that will satisfy fans of that, while bringing in an entire new generation of viewers.”
Slater also says that William Peter Blatty, author of the source novel, has been briefed on the new show and “he’s incredibly excited.”
Also on Fox, Scream Queens returns for another season, this time set at the hospital owned by Cathy Munsch (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the Chanels (Emma Roberts, Billie Lourd, Abigail Breslin).
Joining the cast in an unidentified role is Colton Haynes. The speculation is that he’ll play a patient at the hospital, where John Stamos and Taylor Lautner both play doctors. Cecily Strong will also have a role as a patient in the hospital, which used to be an asylum. Munsch has somehow maneuvered her way to purchasing the hospital with her fame as an icon of the “new-new feminist movement”.
https://youtu.be/uPBiNOZI_zk
Season two takes place three years after season one, as well. Hester’s whereabouts are unknown, and the Chanels have fallen on hard times, trying to hold it together with an effort. Executive producer Ian Brennan says the second season will be “bloodier and funnier.”
Scream Queens is back Tuesday, September 20.
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New OUTCAST Trailer
Besides the two shows in The Walking Dead franchise, Robert Kirkman has another series coming to cable: Outcast, based on his graphic novel co-created with artist Paul Azaceta. The story of Kyle Barnes (Patrick Fugit) plays out as an exploration of demonic possession, and Barnes searches for the truth with the help of Reverend Anderson (Philip Glenister).
Outcast is currently running on Cinemax, its first season consisting of ten episodes.
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Now Playing a Corpse: You
American Horror Story did something a little different this year. Instead of the usual panel, FX offered up a virtual reality experience that had visitors in the role of “dead body” in the morgue.
The network said in a statement: “For attendees who love a thrill, American Horror Story will curate a virtual reality experience unlike any other that takes participants on a unique journey through terrifying encounters inspired by the hair-raising series. The AHS Fearless VR Experience will be an opportunity for American Horror Story fans to become a part of their favorite show and test the boundaries of their own fear.”
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Scary Music?
FX also did a little something… unusual… for The Strain.
The Strain returns to FX August 28.
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Into the Woods
Remember The Blair Witch Project? The movie that started the whole “found footage” craze in 1999 met with box office success, but mixed reactions as to whether or not it was … well… scary.
Fast forward to SDCC 2016, where The Woods was announced as a surprise sequel to Blair Witch. Lionsgate and filmmaker Adam Wingard revealed that fact at a special screening of the trailer. And it’s not called The Woods at all. It’s officially Blair Witch, and it’s both sequel and reboot for the franchise.
The story follows a brother searching for his sister, lost in the Black Hills Woods twenty years ago (yes, the lead from the original).
Bloody Disgusting chatted with Wingard and Simon Barrett about the project:
Blair Witch hits theaters September 16.
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Lights Out Shines
Back in March, we posted the trailer for Lights Out, which was released over the weekend and has been a surprise hit. Nerd Reactor interviewed producer Lawrence Grey, who found the original source material in David Sandberg’s short film “totally freaked me out” despite being in a brightly lit office on a Sunday morning.
And the hit comes despite the fact that the film isn’t part of a franchise. Grey said, “You know we don’t have any branded IP, and we’re not a sequel or prequel. So the only reason people go see anything new is because it’s innovative, it’s original, and it’s distinct. We really felt like there’s so much laziness in the genre, people just knowing that people will, let’s say, go see a possession movie so we’ll do a right-on-the-screws possession movie. They’ll add a couple of flourishes and will get away with it if we’re lucky.”
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Figuring Out Classics
Joe Moore of The Toyark has posted a gallery of images showcasing Pop Culture Shock’s new 7″ figures from The Thing and An American Werewolf in London.
No release date or pricing information was available. See the full gallery here.
